Patriots Park in Allentown has been a mecca for Lehigh Valley softball for more than 70 years.
But one of the reasons it has stayed vibrant through the decades and hosts more games each spring, summer, and fall than any other area venue is that the place has continued to look toward the future.
No one worked harder at Pates Park and saw the need to evolve more than Jim Adams.
He was he visionary behind what is arguably the best press box in Lehigh Valley, a structure so big it can accommodate TV, radio and print media comfortably and also have room for game management as well as a conference room and bathroom.
The press box is one of the reasons why softball officials routinely hold league, district, and state playoff games there, as well as countless summer/travel team events. Professional women’s softball and men’s fastpitch teams and the USA Olympic team made appearances at Pates Park because they recognized it as a quality facility.
Adams died on Thanksgiving morning after a courageous battle with cancer. He was 82.
The Pates Park press box was named in Adams’ honor a few years ago, but his legacy in the softball community extends far beyond the building he built. While he was inducted into the Lehigh Valley Softball Hall of Fame in 2021, those who knew him recognized him as a hall of fame person.
In multiple stints as the Patriots president, Adams kept pushing for updates, improvements, and anything that would make the place better.
But he also knew that while buildings, drainage systems, lights, scoreboards, fences, gates, bathrooms, and refreshment stands are important — and he worked on all of those areas — it’s how you treat people that matters the most. No one set a friendlier, kinder, more welcoming tone to visitors to Pates Park than Adams.
Two of his daughters, Terri and Traci, played high school softball at Allen High School for Ed Stinner, a coaching legend who died in September at the age of 71 after his own battle with cancer.
It was in following his daughters that Adams fell in love with the sport and wanted the best for it. He was proud of his entire family and followed Terri through the travel team, high school, and college ranks, lending support wherever and whenever possible.
“My dad learned the meaning of hard work as a young teen at the family store, Adams Meat Market on Penn Street in Allentown, where his legendary work ethic first began,” Terri Adams, also a Lehigh Valley Softball Hall of Fame member and the head coach at Eastern University, said. “Even then, it was clear — he wasn’t just a good person. He was a great man. A giver first, always.
“When he was a teenager, his father rented a garage for him and his buddies so he could work on cars. Anyone who needed help could simply buy the parts, and they would do the work for free. His heart for others started young and never faded.”
He was devoted to his wife of 61 years, Louise, and his three girls.
“He was the kind of father everyone wished they had — supportive, steady, proud, and always present,” Terri Adams said. “He ran the Soap Box Derby, bringing a national championship home to Allentown and served as president of the National Derby Association. His leadership, passion, and humble strength made people want to follow him.
“Then, when his daughters began playing softball, he poured every ounce of his heart into the sport. He became the backbone of the [five-time state champion] Renegades travel team, the driving force who made sure every player and coach had exactly what they needed. His impact on the local softball community is immeasurable.
“He impacted so many people, more than he ever realized. His kindness, generosity, and humility changed lives. He was a steady force of love and goodness in a world that desperately needs more people like him.”
In a 2021 story in the Lehigh Valley Press, Adams said, “I met so many great people at the ballpark. It feels so good to see girls who played there and who I got to know, and now we’re friends on Facebook, and I see them with daughters who are as old as they were when they played here. There are just so many people I wouldn’t have met had I not spent so much time there.”
But it was the players, parents, coaches, umpires, media, and many others who came to Pates Park who benefited from getting to know Adams.
“He will be missed more deeply than words can capture,” Terri Adams said. “He fought so hard, with unbelievable courage, until he finally found his eternal resting place.”
Calling hours are from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Hunsicker Funeral Home on Route 309 in Orefield. Another calling hour will follow at 10 a.m. Thursday with a service to follow at 11 a.m.