Masters Ken and Arle Adams, Palm Beach Hounds in the 1980s
Wellington, Florida pioneer and a founder of the Palm Beach Hounds, Kenneth Adams, died after a prolonged illness on Wednesday, November 11, 2020. He was ninety.
Ken served with his late wife, Arle, as the first Masters of the Palm Beach Hounds from its inception in 1980 to 1990. He was huntsman for most of that period.
A retired U.S. Air Force Major, Ken sold his chain of True Value Hardware stores in upstate New York to settle with Arle in Palm Beach County, Florida. The couple made their home in the Little Ranches neighborhood in 1978, where they kept horses and foxhounds. Ken started the first foxhunt in Wellington with the help of fellow Wellington pioneer A.W. “Bink” Glisson in the then-undeveloped area that came to be known as Bink’s Forest.
After a conversation with Roger Wellington, who took over his father’s holdings upon the senior Wellington’s death, Adams took a seat on the Acme Improvement District Board of Supervisors, later replacing Wellington as chair. Soon after that, Adams was elected to the Palm Beach County Commission, where he served from 1985 to 1988. From the county commission, Adams headed to the South Florida Water Management District Board of Governors and was a leader in the effort to incorporate the village of Wellington, now a long-established winter destination for a variety of top-level equestrian activities.
Working with a core group of community leaders, Adams was a key member of the team that worked to pass legislation in Tallahassee and conducted a successful incorporation referendum in 1995.
He was always asked to be the leader or chairman of any activity he was involved in. Current Wellington Mayor Anne Gerwig remembers Adams as having a high ethical sense and a deep understanding of the area. She and her husband, Alan Gerwig of the engineering firm Alan Gerwig & Associates, were one of the first tenants at the Lake Wellington Professional Centre, which was built and owned by Adams before he sold it to the village in 2013.
“Really, just knowing him from his influence on Wellington, from my professional experience on the council, seeing him as a steady hand we could always rely on for information and for background,” Gerwig said, adding that he was conscientious that government must be conducted in an admirable and honorable way.
She recalled that Ken Adams Way in Wellington was originally slated to be Ken Adams Drive, but Adams asked that the street be named Ken Adams Way as a nod to his wife.
“He is the one who wanted it changed to ‘Way,’ because Arle always told him he always wanted his way,” Gerwig said. “So, now he would have his way.”
Adams was predeceased by Arle, who died in 2017. Village Manager Paul Schofield said that Adams will be missed by many people in the community.
“We are grateful to Mr. Adams for his dedication to making Wellington a great place for everyone,” Mr. Schofield said. “His foresight and wisdom early in the village’s development was instrumental in Wellington becoming what it is today. Ken loved the village, and he was greatly invested in our hometown. He was a tireless, dedicated advocate for Wellington. Ken Adams is part of what made Wellington such a unique and special place. His memory lives on in the road that bears his name, Ken Adams Way, and his inclusion on our Founders Plaque.”
Wellington honored Adams with a closed-casket viewing on Saturday, November 21. The public was invited to pay their respects at the Wellington Community Center.
Posted December 31, 2020