Father Terrance “Terry” J. Adams, T.O.R., 83, a member of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis, Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus for 63 years, died on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at St. Francis Friary at Mt. Assisi in Loretto, Pennsylvania.
The eldest of four children, Father Terry was born on April 6, 1940 to the late Cletus and Helen (Koehle) Adams in Altoona, PA. Following his graduation from Altoona Catholic (Bishop Guilfoyle) High School, he attended Saint Francis College where he was deeply influenced by the Franciscan friars who taught and ministered there. Although he never intended to become a Franciscan, “the demeanor, prayerfulness, kindness, and personalities of the friars led me to join them.”
During his college years, the interaction he observed between teachers and students also led him to think, “I would like to teach.” So appealing was this desire that Father Terry spent nearly twenty years teaching math and French following his ordination to the priesthood in 1967; first at St. Francis Preparatory School in Spring Grove, PA and then Bishop Egan High School in Fairless Hills, PA. In addition to his teaching duties at Bishop Egan, he also served for a period of time as chaplain for the boys track and cross-country team as well as the school’s Athletic Director. As a friar and priest who stood 6′ 3″ tall, he was looked up to by the students in more ways than one. So dedicated was he to the students, many days you could find him going the “extra mile” by running and training with the teams and serving in other extracurricular activities. Years later, Fr. Terry also taught religion for a couple years at Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport, PA.
In 1986, Fr. Terry began a long “second career” in parochial ministry. For twenty-one years he served as a Parochial Vicar at Saint Francis Xavier Church in Moundsville, West Virginia and Saint Joseph Church in Herndon, Virginia. He also served for two years as the Pastor at Assumption Church in Keiser, West Virginia and Saint Maria Goretti Parish in Arlington, Texas.
Father Terry’s love of foreign languages also led him to study French at Laval University in Quebec, Canada for a year in 1970 and Spanish in Mexico City for another year in the mid 1990s. Academically, he earned a Bachelors degree in Philosophy from Saint Francis College in 1962, completed his theological studies at Saint Francis Seminary in 1967, and pursued studies in Pastoral Ministry at Franciscan University of Steubenville in 1988.
In 2012, Father Terry returned to Loretto to start his retirement at Mount Assisi. There, he lived a more contemplative life while remaining active in priestly ministry celebrating Mass at the friary and a couple local religious sisters convents, until his declining health began to confine him to a wheelchair. Fr. Terry will forever be remembered as a “gentle giant” whose kind demeanor, prayerfulness, and good spirit mirrored the qualities of the friars he admired so long ago. Throughout his life, he loved much and was loved by all.
In addition to his parents, Fr. Terry is preceded in death by his brother-in-law Tom Strunk. He is survived by his brothers John (Doris Ann) and Joseph (Paula) also sister Kathy Strunk as well as numerous nieces and nephews, and his Franciscan Community.
On January 13, 2024, the Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Francis Friary at Mount Assisi with the Very Rev. Joseph Lehman, T.O.R., Minister Provincial as principal celebrant. Following the Mass, interment took place at the Franciscan Friars’ Cemetery on the campus of Saint Francis University, Loretto.