Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Neysa Adams, 104, of Philadelphia, 1971 chair of the local United Fund women\u2019s committee, former president of the Rebecca Gratz Club, onetime vice president of the women\u2019s council for the Federation of Jewish Agencies, former associate trustee at the University of Pennsylvania<\/a>, scientist, high school teacher, investment adviser, and philanthropist, died Friday, June 26, of heart disease at the Hearth at Drexel. <\/p>\n Born and reared in Philadelphia, Mrs. Adams graduated from Olney High School and lived over the years in East Oak Lane, Germantown<\/a>, and Elkins Park<\/a>. She earned a degree in biochemistry with honors at Penn, did scientific research for a time, and taught English and history for two years at Philadelphia High School for Girls. <\/p>\n Smart, friendly, and energetic, she joined the Philadelphia United Fund volunteer speakers bureau in 1963, became active with the fund\u2019s public relations committee, schools committee, and women\u2019s committee, and organized many community fundraising campaigns. In 1971, she told The Inquirer she had a \u201cdeep feeling for community work.\u201d<\/p>\n Mrs. Adams<\/a> also served on the board at what is now Penn\u2019s School of Social Policy and Practice and was active with the Emergency Aid of Pennsylvania Foundation, the National Conference on Social Welfare, and state and federal women\u2019s advisory commissions. In 2003, then-Gov. Ed Rendell recognized her <\/a>as a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania for her \u201coutstanding service and contributions to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.\u201d <\/p>\n As a philanthropist, Mrs. Adams<\/a> and her husband, Arlin, were co-chairs of Penn\u2019s Harrison Society for fundraising recognition, and they established, among other endowments, the Arlin & Neysa Adams Lectureship<\/a> and the Neysa and Arlin Adams Prize for excellence in prelaw studies<\/a> at Temple University<\/a>. Her husband died in 2015, and she donated his papers to the archives at Penn Carey Law School in 2017 and later funded its Arlin M. Adams Lecture in Law, Religion, and the First Amendment<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cEverything good in my life came from him,\u201d Mrs. Adams said in a 2024 online profile<\/a> by the Hearth at Drexel. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Why did best-selling author Carol Saline email The Inquirer\u2019s obit writer?<\/a><\/p>\n She also established the Neysa Adams\u2019 Library Fund<\/a> at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park. Friends called Mrs. Adams \u201cwonderful,\u201d \u201coutstanding,\u201d and \u201cone of life\u2019s brightest lights\u201d in tributes. <\/p>\n One friend sad: \u201cNeysa was one of the kind.\u201d<\/p>\n Neysa Norma Cristol<\/a> was born Aug. 7, 1921. She met Arlin Adams in high school, and they married in 1942 while he was on leave from the Navy. They had daughters Carol, Judy, and Jane. Her daughter Jane died in 2017.<\/p>\n Mrs. Adams and her husband, a state secretary of public welfare and longtime federal judge, traveled the world, mostly through his work, and she met a queen, a pope, several U.S. presidents, and other international notables. \u201cHer resilience, intellectual curiosity, and dedication to serving others stand as a testament to a life well lived,\u201d friends at the Hearth at Drexel said in 2024. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer\u2019s obit writer<\/a><\/p>\n She was active at Keneseth Israel, enjoyed cooking, and was an avid reader. She also worked as an investment adviser. <\/p>\n She was featured on 6abc TV<\/a> last August on her 104th birthday and said: \u201cGet those things that make you happy. Enjoy them while you can.\u201d<\/p>\n Her daughter Carol said: \u201cShe was outgoing and had lots of friends. It seemed like she knew everyone in Philadelphia.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to her daughters, Mrs. Adams is survived by four grandchildren, one great-grandson, and other relatives. A sister and a brother died earlier. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: When parents die, even the mundane memories comfort their children. Here are their tales, as told to The Inquirer\u2019s obit writer.<\/a><\/p>\n A celebration of her life is to be at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 7, at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, 8339 Old York Rd., Elkins Park, Pa. 19027.<\/p>\n Donations in her name may be made to the University of Pennsylvania<\/a>, Box 71332, Philadelphia, Pa. 19176; and Susquehanna University<\/a>, 514 University Ave., Selinsgrove, Pa. 17870.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min Neysa Adams, 104, of Philadelphia, 1971 chair of the local United Fund women\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[108901,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-255727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-neysa-adams-obituary-philadelphia-jewish-federation-philanthropy","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}