Grace Shumway Adair, 76, former chairman of the board of the Exchange National Bank, Atchison, KS, died Saturday, February 7, 1998,
at Newton Wellesley Hospital, Newton, MA. A memorial service will be held Wednesday, February 11, at St. Andrew's Episcopal
Church, Wellesley, MA.
Cremation with inurnment in Lake Forest, IL, at a later date. A memorial service in Atchison, KS, will also be scheduled at a later date.
The family suggests contributions to Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, or the Garden Fund of Trinity Episcopal Church, Atchison, KS.
Mrs. Adair was born April 1, 1921, in Chicago, IL, the daughter of Edward Shumway Sr. and Virginia Laflin. She was a graduate of
St. Timothy's School, Baltimore, MD, and a 1942 graduate of Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, with a degree in music. She
married Potter Hessler Carroll Sr. in 1944, and he died in the early 1960's. In June 1964, she married Atchison, KS, banker
John Augustine Adair Sr. in Lake Forest, IL, and moved to Kansas with her son and daughter, Hess and Ginny Carroll.
During her 21 years in Atchison, Mrs. Adair was an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church and was the first woman to serve on
its vestry. She served on the board of governors of Mount St. Scholastica College and in May, 1974, was elected as the first lay woman
to serve on the board of Benedictine College which was the successor to the merger of Mount St. Scholastica and St. Benedict's
Colleges.
Mrs. Adair and her husband were awarded the Cross of the Order of St. Benedict for outstanding service to Benedictine College.
For many years they sponsored scholarships at the college known as the Adair-Exchange National Bank Scholarship for students
from northeast Kansas. She and Mr. Adair founded the Adair/Exchange Bank Foundation, which continues to assist Atchison and
northeast Kansas area charities.
Mrs. Adair was active in other area organizations including life member of the Atchison Hospital Auxiliary, St. Martha's Guild,
Fortnightly Club, Bellevue Country Club, Kansas City Club, and the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
Mrs. Adair was the first woman to serve as a director of an Atchison bank and, after Mr. Adair's death in 1980, she succeeded to
the position of chairman of the board, which she held until 1986. In 1985, Mrs. Adair moved to Wellesley, MA, to live near her son
and daughter-in-law, Hess and Ellen Carroll, and her daughter and son-in-law, Ginny and Jeffrey Lyman.
While in Wellesley, she was an active member of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Tau Beta Beta Society, Chilton Club, Vassar Alumni
Club, and the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. She was also preceded in death by her brother, Edward
''Eddie'' Shumway Jr.; her daughter, Virginia ''Ginny'' Carroll Lyman; and stepson, Bruce D. Adair. Survivors include her son,
Hess Carroll, his wife, Ellen, and granddaughters, Johanna and Maddy, Holliston, MA; son-in-law, Jeffrey Lyman, his wife,
Rebecca, and granddaughters, Liz and Katie, Bellevue, WA; three stepsons, John A. Adair Jr., Tokyo, Japan, Paul H. Adair,
his wife, Marsha, and grandsons, Douglass and Alex, Atchison, KS, and William A. Adair, Topeka, KS; and daughter-in-law, Vicki
(Mrs. Bruce D.) Adair, and grandchildren, Kevin and Amy, Davenport, IA.
SOURCE: Kansas City Star, The (MO) - February 11, 1998
Steve Shumway - shumways@@petershumway.org
Who is this family member?