By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Family members and friends are remembering a longtime Pelham resident who many said was influential in bringing many businesses to Pelham and Alabaster.

Paul Adamson Jr., who lived in Pelham for more than 40 years, passed away at the age of 74 on Sept. 10. He was president of the Alabaster-Pelham Rotary club, and was president of the Pelham-based Alabama Industrial Fabricators company and the Shelby Fabricators company.

“When he brought his business to Pelham, more and more businesses started moving in,” said Adamson’s wife, Barbara. “Because he was the president of Rotary, he really knew all the businesses in the area.

“He was very involved in helping grow the businesses in Pelham and Alabaster,” she added.

Adamson was a graduate of Shades Valley High School, and was still close friends with many of his former classmates, Barbara Adamson said.

“He went to Homewood Elementary, and he had so many friends that he still kept up with,” she said.

Adamson was also a graduate of Auburn University, and was an avid fan of the Auburn Tigers. While at Auburn, he was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and Blue Key, and was the circulation manager of The Plainsman student newspaper.

Adamson was also tapped as Pharaoh of the university’s Spade society in 1958.

“Paul was a scholarship donor, and was very involved in building the new stadium and really getting the football program going,” Barbara Adamson said.

After he graduated from Auburn, he served as an intelligence officer with the U.S. Navy, and was stationed in Panama.

After his time with the Navy, Adamson brought his fabrication company to Pelham, near where the Pelham YMCA stands today.

“He absolutely adored the Pelham area,” said Alice Barrett, Adamson’s daughter. “He was very involved in the YMCA, and played a big role in getting it moved to Pelham.”

Because he was involved in so many organizations and clubs, Paul Adamson’s Sept. 13 funeral at Southern Heritage Funeral Home in Pelham was “packed belly-to-belly,” Barbara Adamson said.

“There was no body, there were no ashes. It was a celebration of his life,” she said. “And it wasn’t just family, it was CEOs, mayors, everybody.”

One of the guests in attendance was Pelham Mayor Don Murphy, who said Paul Adamson “helped the city of Pelham in a lot of ways.”

“He was involved in meetings with the city, and he was very influential in building Pelham,” Murphy said, noting his children graduated from Pelham High School with Adamson’s. “He was well-liked in our community, and was a big part of Pelham for 40 years.”