Viewing

Tuesday 05/28/2024 9:00am to 9:30am

The Episcopal Church of St. Andrew & Holy Communion
160 W South Orange Ave
South Orange, NJ 07079-1731
973-763-2355

Flowers: Should be delivered to the church.

Funeral Service

Tuesday 05/28/2024 9:45am

The Episcopal Church of St. Andrew & Holy Communion
160 W South Orange Ave
South Orange, NJ 07079
973-763-2355

Flowers: Should be delivered to the church.

Interment

Woodlawn Cemetery
517 E 233rd St
Bronx, NY 10470-2401

Elma Adams was born on October 11th , 1926, in New York City, to West Indian immigrant parents, George and Olive Alexander. The eldest sibling of three children, she began studying the piano at an early age, performing her first concert at only 8
years old. She received her High School Diploma from the Rhodes Preparatory School in Manhattan. She graduated from the Julliard School of Music in 1949, having studied piano with Alton Jones, Irwin Freundlich and Frances Mann. In 1960, a New York Times article described her performance at Carnegie Recital Hall as “poised and articulated”.

She continued performing throughout her life, touring Africa, Israel, Europe and the West Indies. She received a Master of Arts at Newark State College, in New Jersey, in 1973.

Elma met Irving Adams at a party. They married in 1952. Dawn and Irving were born in New York, but the family soon settled in Cranford, NJ, where they had a house built on North Union Avenue: the first black family to do so. In addition to raising two children, Elma taught at her private piano studio for over sixty years, preparing students for recitals and Music Educators Association of New Jersey piano auditions. She was a member of the local chapter of the NAACP with her husband, going to Washington to protest racial discrimination in 1963 where she famously fell asleep on the bus during Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Elma also held the position of director of music in several different churches, including St. Paul’s Episcopal in the Bronx, St. Paul’s Episcopal in Morris Plains from 1969 to 1994, Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral in Newark and St. Francis Episcopal, in
Dunellen, New Jersey. Elma retired from a long career as a piano teacher and accompanist for the Newark School of the Arts in 2020 and the All Children’s Theater in New Jersey in 2017, but she continued to help with the music program at St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church in Pierrefonds, Canada, as well as serving as a volunteer at Société Alzheimer Laval, where her music was thoroughly enjoyed by
residents and visitors.

An avid traveller, Elma was always delighted to go on a cruise, whether in Alaska or the Caribbean, but she never enjoyed walking in the hot summer sun in Rome. Her last vacation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the land of her ancestors, was only a few
months ago.

Elma passed away suddenly on May 22nd , 2024, in New Jersey. She was predeceased by her husband Irving Adams Sr, and by brothers Earle and Dorn Alexander. She was the loving mother of Irving Adams Jr. and Dawn Bontemps, mother-in-law of Yolaine Adams and Georges Bontemps. Cherished grandmother of Jon-Paul and wife Tamicha,
David and wife Tomeeka, Patrick, Jean-Christophe, Muriel and husband Pierre-Hugues, Marc. Great-grandmother of Gabrielle, Gisèlle, Elijah, Isaiah, Hugues, Antoine, Sacha and Hamilton. Aunt of Leah and husband Dean, great-aunt of Nina, Alexander, and Zion. She is also survived by a host of other relatives and friends. She will be missed.