Nancy Elizabeth Duggan Adams

Nancy Elizabeth Duggan Adams of Pass Christian, MS, passed away on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Nancy was born in Yazoo City, MS, the youngest of three children, to Aaron Zalmon Duggan and Daisy Adeline Howard Duggan. She spent the first 8 years of her life in Yazoo City. After the death of her father, they moved to Handsboro, MS where she attended school and later worked. Nancy had many different jobs after graduating from Gulfport High School in 1943. The telephone company was her first, then as clerk typist with the government at Gulfport Field and then as a secretary there, but at the weather station during WWII. There Nancy and a friend heard about jobs with Eastern Airlines in New York City. Since Nancy was too tall for the airplanes at that time, she became a reservationist at Grand Central Station. Later, she and her friend, who was a stewardess, transferred to Miami, where she was eventually offered the stewardess job, but with her mother’s failing health she made the decision to return home. Nancy met the love of her life, D. Howard Adams while on a double date and knew immediately that he was the one she wanted to marry and he felt the same. They married in January 1949 and took over the ownership of the Adams’ Loraine Flower Shop in Bay St Louis, which Howard’s parents had started in 1947. This was a perfect fit for Nancy’s artistic talents and her love to create beautiful things. Their family was growing and they became active in social as well as community activities while raising 4 children. Nancy was a member of the Eastern Star, Junior Auxiliary, PTA, Altrusa, Nerieds Carnival Krewe, Pass Christian Isles Golf Club, and Bay Waveland Yacht Club. She and Howard had many close friends who formed lifelong bonds. In their early years, they and friends formed the “25 Couples Club”. The main idea was for the couples to go to a nice restaurant that also had a band for dancing. The group evolved over the years with people leaving and new friends coming in. They eventually ended up with a core group that became the “Rat Pack”. They also enjoyed the many boats they owned over the years while fishing, water skiing, or just hanging out and entertaining their friends and their children’s friends. Nancy had joined the Episcopal Church in Pass Christian and later in Bay St Louis until returning to Pass Christian, resuming her membership at Trinity Episcopal. She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Aaron Zalmon Duggan Jr; and her sister, Darleen Duggan Layman. In 1995 the love of her life, Howard Adams died while on a fishing trip with one son, David and grandson, Zach. Three months later, their son, David Adams died. She is survived by her daughter, Rebecca K Adams of DeLisle, MS; sons, Aaron Duggan Adams of Steamboat Springs, CO and John R Adams (Kevin) of Bay St Louis, MS; her grandchildren, Diana C Markel of Mobile, AL, Jennifer Adams Falgout (Mike) of New Orleans, LA, Margo Adams and Elizabeth Tebo (Cameron) of Bay St Louis, MS, Allison Adams Lemons (Brent) of Long Beach, MS, Zachary Adams of Pass Christian, MS, and Frankie Adams Hemphill (Zachary); and great-grandchildren, Cooper Lemons, Cameron Flynn, Cecelia Falgout and David Hemphill. There will be a private graveside service. A gathering of family and friends will be held at a later date. Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15th Street, Gulfport is honored to serve the Adams family.