This article is was printed in the Easton edition of the Express-Times on May 4, 2001 and is used with their permission. Our thanks to the Express-Times and reporter, Kurt Bresswein.

Friends recall Robley Adams’ dedication to city

By KURT BRESSWEIN
The Express-Times

EASTON - Friends and co-workers of Robley W. Adams, a longtime Easton figure and city employee with an interest in politics, remember him as a colorful, diligent worker who didn’t pull punches.

"He was a very dedicated and loyal city employee," said Mayor Thomas Goldsmith, one of five mayors under whom Adams worked as supervisor of the parking garage at South Third and Ferry streets.

"In a way it’s very sad that in the last few years his health didn’t let him pursue all of his interests with the same vigor that he previously pursued things," said Goldsmith, a friend for 35 years.

Adams died Wednesday at age 75.

He was a World War II-era veteran, a recreational pilot, a Northampton County chief deputy coroner, a funeral director for more than 43 years, a two-time unsuccessful mayoral candidate in the city and he served as Easton’s first manager at the parking garage.

The Bushkill Street resident knew how to work, and he knew how to play.

"We used to hang at Larry Holmes’ Commodore Inn and Ringside and drink beer," recalled Dick Lovell, a one-time public relations man for the former heavyweight champion of the world and an acquaintance of Adams since the 1950s. "He used to travel with us when Larry fought.

He was a real party guy. As a person, he was a real person. He told you what he thought and didn’t pull any punches."

Adams pushed for positive change in the community, from improved relations between the black and white communities to better sidewalks for South Side. He had very strong opinions about controversial topics and wasn’t afraid to express them, Goldsmith said.

"Everyone who ran for mayor said that the first thing they would do upon getting elected mayor would be to get rid of Robley Adams," he said, "and the first thing they did was to promote him and give him a raise.

I never made the pledge that I’d get rid of him," Goldsmith said, "nor did he get a promotion or a raise when I became mayor either."

Adams himself ran for the Democratic nomination for mayor in 1971 and 1975. Before the 1975 primary election, which he lost, Adams was mugged twice within 10 days in the Downtown, losing $170 total. He vowed to get tough on crime, if elected.

He said he wanted to make it "real clear" that "if anyone robs, steals, assaults or runs from the police, they are going to get shot."

That spring, Adams brought his antics to Easton’s council chambers when an ordinance was being considered to quiet noisy animals and fowl living within city limits. At the previous meeting, then-Councilman Goldsmith made a comment referencing Adams’ love for animals, prompting Adams to present Goldsmith with a muzzle.

Russell Border, supervisor of motors for the city, recalled that Adams adopted a family of cats he found living under the steps of the old City Hall at 650 Ferry St. in the early 1990s. At that time, he raised $1,000 for maintenance of Easton’s holiday Peace Candle in Centre Square and donated the money in the name of the cats.

When a television crew filmed a version of "The Dain Curse" in his Victorian-era home, Adams donated the proceeds to the Northampton County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Border recalled.

As a worker, Adams was tireless.

"He was a very conscientious city employee," Border said. "There was never too big a job for Robley. We teased him that he worked 23 out of 24 hours of the day."

He also made time to help his co-workers, as Tom Pinkerton recalls.

"You were actually somebody with him," said Pinkerton, a supervisor at the city’s parking garage. "He needed you here. He’d talk to you about problems, and he’d help you."

Adams was also a stickler for getting things done the right way.

"If you showed you could do the job, he more or less trusted you," said Pinkerton, a 14-year employee of the city who worked with Adams at the garage during the late 1980s and early 1990s. "If he didn’t like what you did, he would tell you, ‘Do what I told you. This is the way I want it done.’"

Adams’ zealousness landed him in court in June 1977 after he warned a 24-year-old woman who was riding her bicycle through the garage not to do so. He grabbed her and held her wrist until police arrived. He was charged with harassment, but the judge dismissed the case for lack of evidence.

A week later, Adams said he would post signs banning bicyclists and skateboarders from the garage.

© 2001 The Express Times. Used with permission