The day was Thursday, June 22, 1944.  On board a Standard Oil tanker filled with gasoline shipped from Corpus Christi, at anchor in New York's Hudson River, Merchant Marine Yeoman Second Class Mack C. Adams, Jr. learned that he was going to college.  The ship's radio announced that President Roosevelt had that day signed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act (the GI Bill); Mack decided then to join the Army and take advantage of the college education promised to servicemen after the war.  Mack achieved his dream of going to college, instilled in him by his mother's lifelong insistence that education was the way to a better life, and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Southern Methodist University in 1950 and 1959 respectively.  The myriad benefits of his education profoundly influenced and magnificently enhanced the quality of the rest of his and his family's life.

Mack spent almost his entire working life in education, teaching Texas history in the Spring Branch school district near Houston, serving as Dean of Men and Director of Student Services at SMU, and finishing his career as the Assistant Commissioner for Student Services at the Coordinating Board of the Texas College and University System (now the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board).  While at SMU, Mack joined the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NSAFAA) and served as the first President (1968 - 1969) of the Texas association, TASFAA, when it was chartered.  Mack served on the Executive Committee of NASFAA from 1956 until 1995.  Many of his family's summer vacations were spent attending NASFAA conventions, including in 1968 when the family travelled to Kalamazoo, Michigan.  Inured to Texas' heat by many trips to Galveston, with the glistening beaches and warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Mack's children were crestfallen at the icy waters on the waveless shore of Lake Michigan.

Mack was dedicated to and instrumental in extending educational opportunities to as many as he could.  He worked with members of the Texas legislature and other leaders in education to pass the law that created the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Program in 1979.  Mack also advocated for and assisted in the creation of Tuition Equalization Grants that benefited students attending private colleges and universities.  Mack was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Texas Wesleyan University in September 1979, recognizing his long history of service to students in higher education.

Mack was a member of Friendship Methodist Church in Milam County, Texas; First United Methodist Church of Dallas; and First United Methodist Church of Austin, Texas, which he and his family joined in the Fall of 1972.  In Dallas and again in Austin, Mack and his wife Martha led classes of college students at church, providing delicious meals and opportunities for Christian fellowship.  The College Class at FUMC Dallas was especially instrumental in providing meaning and stability to students during the turbulent 1960's which included the social upheaval surrounding the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War.  Mack served in many roles at church and frequently attended Annual Conference of the Southwest Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church, as both delegate and layman.  Mack served on the board of directors of United Campus Ministries and the Wesley Foundation, both in Austin.  In 1994, Mack traveled to Zimbabwe as a representative of the Southwest Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church for the dedication and opening ceremonies of Africa University, which is affiliated with the educational ministries of the United Methodist Church.  On this trip, Mack was delighted to join photographic safaris that included a picnic on an island in the Zambezi River where he watched hippos lurking in the nearby water and loved the spectacular view of the river's Victoria Falls.  Mack and Martha established an endowed scholarship fund at Africa University, bearing their name, that continues aiding students with annual awards.

After serving with the Coordinating Board from 1971 to 1995, Mack and Martha enjoyed a pleasant and rewarding retirement, traveling the US and the world.  Martha's interests in Classical literature led them to Greece and Italy for two weeks each; in Greece, they joined a tour tracing the Apostle Paul's second journey and enjoyed time in Athens.  While in Italy, Mack and Martha visited Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice, and marveled at the then (and now) still standing Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Mack and Martha also traveled to Israel, Egypt, England, France, Switzerland and Germany, and in 2000 attended the decennial Passion Play at Oberammergau.  A tour of the Holy Land in 1997 introduced Mack and Martha to that fascinating part of the world and friendships that endured until the end of his life.

Mack's travels included visits to all fifty states in the union and all 254 counties in his home state of Texas.  He made friends all over the United States before and during the war and throughout his professional life.  He leaves behind a legacy of dedication to family, faith, and education in its many forms.

Mack Clarnea Adams, Jr. was born in Rotan, Fisher County, Texas on October 1, 1923, to Mack Clarnea Adams, originally from Crab Orchard, Kentucky and Ella Olivia Bozeman Adams, originally from Milam County, Texas.   He was the sixth of seven children born to his parents' union.  He died on March 1, 2022 at the age of 98.   Mack was the last surviving child of his family, which included brothers William Clarence Adams (Edna) of Rotan and Lake Whitney, James Thomas Adams (Estelle) of Houston, and Robert Vanoy Adams (Frances) of Houston; and sisters Virginia Lucille Adams Stone (Walter) of San Diego, CA, Dorothy Inez Adams Ray (Richard) of Rotan, and Zula Mae Adams Bales (Loyie McKimm) of Houston, Texas.

Mack's early childhood was spent in Rotan where his father was a laborer in the local gypsum mill.  After an industrial accident injured his father, Mack and the family moved to Milam County, Texas on Friday, March 13, 1936, with ducks and chickens in cages roped to the car's front bumper and a bowl of goldfish precariously balanced on the back seat (the fish and fowl all survived the trip).  Almost 13 years old, Mack would come to know Milam County as home and returned there every year he was able for the Friendship United Methodist Church Memorial Service, held annually near Memorial Day weekend, attending for the last time in 2021.

Mack graduated from the Sharp School at age 17 and soon began working for the Civilian Conservation Corps and the United States Forestry Service.  His wartime service to his country began in the Merchant Marine and his Army service was clerical in nature since he knew how to use a typewriter.  After his honorable discharge from the Army, Mack traveled briefly around the US and Mexico and then enrolled at SMU in February 1947.

Mack had a subtle, wholesome and great sense of humor.  While eating at a Mexican restaurant with friends in Dallas after the war, Mack was the first to sample a dish of picante sauce, which was so hot with peppers it almost choked him.  When his friends asked about the sauce, Mack said, "It's great!" and encouraged them to cover their chips abundantly.  When they recovered their senses, his friends nearly chased him out of the restaurant.

Mack was married to Martha Ann Purifoy, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Rice University, on December 22, 1956, at Bering Memorial Methodist Church in Houston.  Mack and Martha were married for 58 years before she passed in May 2015.  Mack is survived by his children, John C. Adams (Mary Alice) of Austin, and Ann Adams of Cedar Creek, his grandchildren Molly Adams of Canyon Lake, Harrison Adams and Nicholas Adams of Austin, and his great-granddaughter, Olive Cotton Boyd, of Canyon Lake.

A Celebration of Mack's life will be held at First United Methodist Church of Austin, 1201 Lavaca St., on Saturday April 2 at 2:00pm.