When Larry Adams shared Boone County or presidential history with tourists or Iowa residents, he shared parts of himself, his friends said after the Boone County historian died in a car crash Monday near Granger.

Adams, 75, served as the director of the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Birthplace Museum from 1980 until his retirement in 2006. Adams outlived his father and brother, so he relied on a close group of friends in the central Iowa city of 12,500 residents for support.

Larry Adams demonstrates a vintage telephone in the kitchen of Mamie Doud Eisenhower's birthplace.

said his friend of more than 30 years Mel Pins.

Adams grew up in Boone. His father Larry managed a local Fareway store and was on Fareway's board of directors. Adams' brother Jon managed several Fareway stores in the area. Jon Adams died in 2005 at age 55.

Pins said.

Neil Goeppinger, a Boone farm manager, met Adams drinking beer in the back of Duffy's Appliance Store at 822 Story Street in Boone around 1977. At that time Adams worked as a private investigator. Adams lived in a second-floor apartment of a downtown Boone building owned by his family.

Goeppinger said.

He collected so many documents and books in his apartment that people worried the floor may collapse, Goeppinger said.

Goeppinger said.

In 1980 Adams became the curator and director at the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Birthplace Museum. The museum houses many artifacts from her life in her childhood home.

Adams struck up friendships with their grandson David Eisenhower and his wife Julie Nixon Eisenhower, daughter of former President Richard Nixon.

Goeppinger said.

During summers after his 2006 retirement from the Doud Eisenhower Museum, Adams served as the curator of the Higgins Museum of National Bank Notes in Okoboji. The museum preserves and displays banknotes, which were legal currency printed and issued by banks.

Pins said with a laugh.

To read the complete article, see:
Friends remember longtime Mamie Doud Eisenhower Museum director's love of history(https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/2022/10/13/mamie-doud-eisenhower-museum-director-larry-adams-died-car-crash-boone-iowa/69558974007/)

Mark Anderson writes:

To read the Rotary article, see:
August 9, Meeting at HIggins Museum of Money (https://www.iowagreatlakesrotary.org/Stories/august-9-meeting-at-higgins-museum-of-money)

Larry D. Adams, curator at the Higgins Museum of National Bank Notes, was killed in a caraccident on Monday, October 10, 2022.

Adams was born in Boone, Iowa, on August 31, 1947. He graduated from Boone High School in1965, and had a two-year A.A. degree from Boone Junior College in 1967. He took additionalcourses for professional advancement. Adams worked as a private investigator from 1969 to2016. He also worked as a forensic document examiner.

He collected checks from Boone, Iowa. was a co-founder of the Check Collectors Round Tablein 1969 and membership secretary in 1972. He was vice president of the Society of Ration Tokencollectors in 1979. Another membership was with the American Play Money Society.

Adams was an authority on Boone history and the history of Boone County. He was president ofthe Boone County Genealogical Society and a board member of the Boone County HistoricalSociety. He was editor of Trail Tales for the historical society.

He joined the Society of Paper Money Collectors (SPMC) in 1967, was elected to the board for1975 to 1978, served as vice president 1979 to 1983 and served as president during 1983 to1987. He was also membership secretary in 1972, chair of the awards committee in 1976, andpublicity chairman 1979 to 1983.

He was a board member and manager of the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Birthplace in Boone,Iowa. He was appointed curator in 1980 and served until retirement in 2006.

He began working as curator at the Higgins Museum of National Bank Notes in Okoboji, Iowa,in May of 2007. The museum was founded in 1978 by William R. Higgins, Jr. The collectioncenters around National Bank Notes of Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri.

Adams was killed in a head-on collision of a Semi-Trailer truck and a passenger car nearGranger, Iowa. He has no surviving siblings or children.