William Earle Adams. was born 29 Oct 1892 in East Liverpool, OH. His parents were William Earle Adams of Burslem, Staffordshire, England and Florella Dunn of Steubenville, OH. He had 2 younger brothers, Paul Henry and Raymond Gladden Adams. This branch of Adams descended from a very ancient family of potters.
William married Rhea Kreider Bunting in Toledo. As a result of his career, the couple lived in many places—Cleveland, New York, Pittsburgh, eventually settling in Hamilton, Ohio in the 1940s where they remained.
At the time of his death, William was a project officer employed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Previous to that, he had been associated with the Diebolt Safe Company in Canton, OH and the Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Company in Hamilton, OH. William made many important contributions to the safe industry and was the holder of several patents. He was the inventor of a combined bank vault door with a timed delay that he nick-named "the 5-Star General" in honor of the then president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. This vault is still in use today, along with another invention of his, a bank depository. A veteran of World War I, he served as a sergeant in Company B, 72 Engineers. During the war, the ship he was sailing on was struck by a tidal wave during a storm, washing him overboard. Divine Grace intervened and a second tidal wave placed him safely back on board his ship. William was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Hamilton, OH and the Masonic Lodge in Akron, OH where he obtained his Master Mason degree in 1915. Mr. Adams, a polymath and self-educated man, possessed a keen intellect and a photographic memory. He was a student of history and an avid reader. It was customary for him to check out a large stack of books each Friday and finish reading them by Sunday. Antiques were among his many and varied interests.
A kind and devoted family man, William died 22 Feb 1958 as a result of a stroke, leaving behind a granddaughter, son, 2 brothers and wife, Rhea, who was later buried next to him in Rose Hill Burial Park, Hamilton, Ohio.
William married Rhea Kreider Bunting in Toledo. As a result of his career, the couple lived in many places—Cleveland, New York, Pittsburgh, eventually settling in Hamilton, Ohio in the 1940s where they remained.
At the time of his death, William was a project officer employed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Previous to that, he had been associated with the Diebolt Safe Company in Canton, OH and the Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Company in Hamilton, OH. William made many important contributions to the safe industry and was the holder of several patents. He was the inventor of a combined bank vault door with a timed delay that he nick-named "the 5-Star General" in honor of the then president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. This vault is still in use today, along with another invention of his, a bank depository. A veteran of World War I, he served as a sergeant in Company B, 72 Engineers. During the war, the ship he was sailing on was struck by a tidal wave during a storm, washing him overboard. Divine Grace intervened and a second tidal wave placed him safely back on board his ship. William was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Hamilton, OH and the Masonic Lodge in Akron, OH where he obtained his Master Mason degree in 1915. Mr. Adams, a polymath and self-educated man, possessed a keen intellect and a photographic memory. He was a student of history and an avid reader. It was customary for him to check out a large stack of books each Friday and finish reading them by Sunday. Antiques were among his many and varied interests.
A kind and devoted family man, William died 22 Feb 1958 as a result of a stroke, leaving behind a granddaughter, son, 2 brothers and wife, Rhea, who was later buried next to him in Rose Hill Burial Park, Hamilton, Ohio.
William Earle Adams. was born 29 Oct 1892 in East Liverpool, OH. His parents were William Earle Adams of Burslem, Staffordshire, England and Florella Dunn of Steubenville, OH. He had 2 younger brothers, Paul Henry and Raymond Gladden Adams. This branch of Adams descended from a very ancient family of potters.
William married Rhea Kreider Bunting in Toledo. As a result of his career, the couple lived in many places—Cleveland, New York, Pittsburgh, eventually settling in Hamilton, Ohio in the 1940s where they remained.
At the time of his death, William was a project officer employed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Previous to that, he had been associated with the Diebolt Safe Company in Canton, OH and the Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Company in Hamilton, OH. William made many important contributions to the safe industry and was the holder of several patents. He was the inventor of a combined bank vault door with a timed delay that he nick-named "the 5-Star General" in honor of the then president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. This vault is still in use today, along with another invention of his, a bank depository. A veteran of World War I, he served as a sergeant in Company B, 72 Engineers. During the war, the ship he was sailing on was struck by a tidal wave during a storm, washing him overboard. Divine Grace intervened and a second tidal wave placed him safely back on board his ship. William was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Hamilton, OH and the Masonic Lodge in Akron, OH where he obtained his Master Mason degree in 1915. Mr. Adams, a polymath and self-educated man, possessed a keen intellect and a photographic memory. He was a student of history and an avid reader. It was customary for him to check out a large stack of books each Friday and finish reading them by Sunday. Antiques were among his many and varied interests.
A kind and devoted family man, William died 22 Feb 1958 as a result of a stroke, leaving behind a granddaughter, son, 2 brothers and wife, Rhea, who was later buried next to him in Rose Hill Burial Park, Hamilton, Ohio.
William married Rhea Kreider Bunting in Toledo. As a result of his career, the couple lived in many places—Cleveland, New York, Pittsburgh, eventually settling in Hamilton, Ohio in the 1940s where they remained.
At the time of his death, William was a project officer employed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Previous to that, he had been associated with the Diebolt Safe Company in Canton, OH and the Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Company in Hamilton, OH. William made many important contributions to the safe industry and was the holder of several patents. He was the inventor of a combined bank vault door with a timed delay that he nick-named "the 5-Star General" in honor of the then president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. This vault is still in use today, along with another invention of his, a bank depository. A veteran of World War I, he served as a sergeant in Company B, 72 Engineers. During the war, the ship he was sailing on was struck by a tidal wave during a storm, washing him overboard. Divine Grace intervened and a second tidal wave placed him safely back on board his ship. William was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Hamilton, OH and the Masonic Lodge in Akron, OH where he obtained his Master Mason degree in 1915. Mr. Adams, a polymath and self-educated man, possessed a keen intellect and a photographic memory. He was a student of history and an avid reader. It was customary for him to check out a large stack of books each Friday and finish reading them by Sunday. Antiques were among his many and varied interests.
A kind and devoted family man, William died 22 Feb 1958 as a result of a stroke, leaving behind a granddaughter, son, 2 brothers and wife, Rhea, who was later buried next to him in Rose Hill Burial Park, Hamilton, Ohio.
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