Jack Adams

For three generations the Adams family and The Belleville Recorder were tireless advocates for Belleville. Each edition of The Belleville Recorder included numerous articles on the school district’s students and staff. Adams’ family members attended almost every school event and reported the district news for nearly 70 years.

Jack Adams graduated from Belleville High School in 1943 and spent almost his entire life in Belleville. Shortly after marrying Marian (Wallom) Adams, Jack’s father Herbert died in a house fire. His parents had owned The Belleville Recorder since 1939, so Jack took the paper over in 1950 by purchasing it from his mother, Nena Voss Adams. For the next 41 years, Jack and Marian ran the newspaper, until selling it to their daughter and son-in-law- Wendy and Stu Shapiro.

Jack used The Recorder to promote Belleville and small-town values. Along with school activities, he reported on village news, church functions, and milestones of local families. He and his camera were fixtures at Belleville events.

Jack would often take the group photos used in the high school yearbook, providing priceless mementos, in the form of high quality photographs, for generations of students. Jack also assisted with early Belleville Community Picnics and fundraised for the swimming pool.

His daughter, Ginny Adams Cahalan recalls, “Dad never missed any sports events…I remember watching him on the sidelines of the football field and at basketball games  dedicating himself to the very best coverage of our teams and players.”

His daughter, Wendy Adams Shapiro recounts, “One of my most vivid memories is helping dad develop film and print photos in his darkroom.” Whether in the Main Street office in the basement of the bakery or later in the basement of their home on Church Street, she loved standing next to her dad in total darkness as the negative became a life-like photo. “Dad was a perfectionist and oftentimes would work on one photo for what seemed like forever, making sure the faces or scenery were exactly the way he wanted them.”

Wildcat Wall of Fame Committee member Bart Morrick may have stated it best, “Jack was the ultimate 'homer' for the school district and an unbelievable advocate for all things Wildcat.”