John J. Adams

John J. Adams of McLean, Virginia died peacefully at the age of 90 at his beloved log cabin home of 60 years on April 20, 2025. John was born in Toledo, Ohio on November 12, 1934, the youngest son of Theodore and Esther Adams. His sister Betsy (Thompson) and Theodore (Ted) were 8 and 4 years older, respectively. The family moved shortly thereafter to Richmond, Virginia where his father had been called to be the pastor of the First Baptist Church. He went to his parents’ alma mater Denison University in Ohio where he graduated in 1956 and earned his J.D. in 1959 from the University of Virginia Law School.

While in Charlottesville John met and married the love of his life, Barbara Barr, on June 6, 1959. After law school, seeing that many of his law classmates had served in Korea, he volunteered to go into the Army Reserves where he proudly served as a corporal for six months at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In January 1960 he joined the 25-person Richmond law firm of Hunton & Williams where he engaged in a host of legal matters from civil, criminal, and probate courts to corporate representation and pro bono work.

In 1965, he left the firm to move to McLean, Virginia to briefly work for a civil liberties group before joining the U.S. Department of State as a Special Envoy to determine how best to implement a presidential directive on consolidations of U.S. operations in countries overseas. When completed, he was asked to start the Washington D.C. office of Hunton & Williams in November 1967 and was its Managing Partner until 1985, taking Senior Counsel status in 1995.

Over the years in Washington, John was involved in a broad range of administrative proceedings, including anti-trust, bank mergers and numerous environmental regulations. In addition, he was heavily involved in environmental legislative matters. John was proud to be a member of the confirmation team for Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, then a senior partner and mentor of his at Hunton & Williams. While John accomplished much over his 50 years in law, what he most enjoyed was mentoring those in the firm along the way.

John and Barbara had been blessed with three daughters, bringing two (Leigh Ann and Leslie) when they moved to their log cabin on Georgetown Pike in McLean in 1965, and adding a third daughter (Julie) the following year. John became active in the Georgetown Pike & Potomac River Association as they successfully lobbied and demonstrated to preserve the 336-acre Burling tract as a public park in 1970, followed shortly by another successful effort in 1974 to make Georgetown Pike Virginia’s first “Scenic and Historical Byway.” He stayed involved in the community throughout his life with 11 parks designated along the 12-mile stretch of the Pike.

John also served on numerous educational and civic Boards, including the Boards of Trustees of Ottawa University, McLean Baptist Endowment Fund, and the Religious Herald as well as the Boards of Directors of the McLean Citizens Association, the McLean Conservancy, Serve Trust of India and Celebrate Virginia 2007. He was the co-founder of McLean Trees and President of the Georgetown Pike & Potomac River Association. He served as legal counsel to the Women’s Center of Northern Virginia and the Baptist World Alliance and was attorney of record in various suits brought by American United for the Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union. John was named McLean’s “Citizen of the Year” in 1999.

At the age of 60, John stepped back and became a Senior Counsel at the law firm so he could spend more time on his passions in community service work and continuing his world travels with his life mate, Barbara. They became trekking enthusiasts and trekked all over the world from Machu Picchu to Kilimanjaro. They also enjoyed many family vacations with their children, their spouses, and grandchildren – including multiple Thanksgiving Caribbean cruises, ski adventures out west and trips to London, Switzerland, and Greece and a trip to build homes in Nicaragua. John was proud that he had traveled to over 100 countries, across all seven continents and five oceans.

Though he loved traveling, John’s favorite role was that of a parent and grandparent. He loved that he was always surrounded by his beautiful wife and three daughters who always stayed close. He treasured the time with his five grandchildren and loved being their Pop and was further blessed with four great-grandchildren and had two more on the way at the time of his death. Besides his beloved log cabin, his special place was at the cottage at Sandy Point, Virginia. John’s father had built the cottage in the Northern Neck in the 1940s and John valued his lifetime spent on the Potomac River where he could relax with his extended family. One of his other great joys was sharing his love of the Detroit Tigers baseball team with his family.

For 60 years, John and Barbara were active members of McLean Baptist Church and enjoyed raising their girls there and developing life-long friendships. John served as a Deacon, teacher in the International School (ESL), and with his wife, taught high school Sunday School class for a dozen years, inspiring a host of teenagers. He will always be remembered as a great friend to many, a kind, thoughtful, compassionate and outspoken man who was a proud member of the ACLU and a proponent of the separation of church and state.

John was preceded in death by his granddaughter Chloe Buchanan and is survived by his cherished wife Barbara; his three daughters and their spouses: Leigh Ann and Bill Miller, Leslie and Bob Barry, and Julie Adams Buchanan; his four grandchildren and their spouses: Joshua and Brittany Miller, Bob and Claire Barry, Megan (Miller) and Nate Cole, Krista (Barry) and Jim Hilk, and their four great-grandchildren: Jack and Mark Barry, Cam Miller, and Riley Cole; and his beloved niece Tedde Thompson and seven nephews – Tray, Mark, Brad and John Adams, Trip Thompson, Benton Barr and Robert Howell.

A Celebration of Life Memorial will be held Sunday, May 18, 2025, at McLean Baptist Church, 1367 Chain Bridge Road in McLean, Virginia at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in John Adams’ name to:
• ACLU – https://action.aclu.org/give/make-gift-aclu-someones-memory
• Plant a Tree – https://shop.alivingtribute.org/
• The Shepherd’s center of Richmond – https://dsnp.co/daILcL