PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
Adams completed a year of postgraduate studies in social
work. For her internship, she quit the church job to work at a
call center connecting people in need with the right resources.
By then, Wayne had retired. As soon as Adams graduated,
he asked when they were moving to Florida — he had inherited
his mother’s house in Port St. Lucie. During a two-week
visit to finalize plans, Adams visited the United Way office in
Fort Pierce to ask about area nonprofits. The executive director
mentioned a job opening.
“The more she talked, the bigger my eyes got.”
Adams retired from United Way as vice president of community
impact after 21 years. When asked about favorite
memories, she says, “Every day. It was one of those jobs
where something interesting happened every single day.”
Since 1996, Adams has volunteered with Heathcote Botanical
Gardens and is a past board president. She’s on the executive
committee of Impact 100, a group of women who pledge $1,000
annually, enabling one transformational grant benefiting a nonprofit.
For eight years, she served as a founding board member
of HANDS of St. Lucie County, a free medical clinic.
On the board of trustees, Adams sews aprons for Heathcote’s
gift shop and helps organize events. Although retired
from Port St. Lucie Businesswomen, she was asked to help
plan an upcoming installation and holiday party. She attends
a monthly writers’ group via Zoom.
Wayne passed away in 1998.
“He had three years of enjoying the pool and sitting on the
porch. He loved it.”
Like him, Adams is enjoying life after retirement.
“I’m fortunate to be in fairly good health. I keep up with
friends, read, sew and make the rounds of the plethora of
CHRISTINA WILSON ADAMS
Age: 86
Lives in: River Park
Occupation: Retired social worker
Family: Two daughters, five grandchildren, three greatgrandchildren
Education: Attended several colleges before graduating
from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan; master
of social work from University of Georgia
Hobby: Sewing, reading, gardening, volunteering
Who inspires me: “My mother and my Aunt Mary
Wilson, who lived with us. She was an avowed pacifist
and liberated woman who held a job when it was fairly
unusual at that time. Twenty years older than my mother,
she was more like a grandmother to me.”
Something most people don’t know about me: “When
I was a freshman at Potsdam Teachers College, I sang
with famed conductor Robert Shaw. Each spring there
was a large oratorio with a guest conductor and perhaps
100 singers. We performed Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at
the hockey arena.”
thrift stores in the area.”
Always mindful of Heathcote’s fundraising event needs,
she looks for linens and other accessories to enhance the experience.
You might say that she finds volunteering in her 80s
to be just … her cup of tea. E
EXCITING CAMPS & PROGRAMS
OR LOW COST OPTIONS
PROVIDED BY CHILDREN'S SERVICES COUNCIL FUNDING
Port St. Lucie Magazine 29
/summer22