Death of Thurston M. Adams (July 6, 1961)
Prof. Adams of UVM Feared Drowned
The Burlington Free Press, Jul 7 1961, P. 1, Cols. 5-8, with photo
"Prof. Thurston M. Adams, 51, of 240 Loomis St. was missing and feared drowned in Lake Champlain near Savage Island Thursday morning after he apparently fell out of his rented outboard motorboat.
Adams, chairman of the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Vermont, and prominent in New England milk-pricing circles, was fishing alone at the time of his disappearance.
He rented a 14-foot boat from Leon Bora's Boat Livery at South Hero at 8:30 a.m. Thursday and set out with his trolling gear in the boat, powered by his own three-horsepower outboard motor.
About two hours later, Dean Lefebvre of Southwick, Mass., who was fishing from a boat near Savage Island, saw an empty motorboat moving slowly across the northern tip of Savage Island.
==At Trolling Speed==
Lefebvre told state police he noticed the boat running at trolling speed. but no one was in it.
When the Massachusetts fisherman moved his own boat along-side. he found Adams' rented boat with the motor running. a seat cushion life preserver and fishing equipment inside.
Lt. Harold E. Dean, head of the State Police Marine Division, who headed a vain water and air search for the missing economist, said it appeared that Adams had been trolling and had reeled in his line.
Dean said the fishing line had been carefully wound on a reel to a point where the line was snarled.
== Equipment Neat ==
The state police lieutenant said equipment in the boat was neatly arranged, with no evidence that Adams had tripped over anything or that the boat had been tipped violently.
Police speculated that Adams might have lost his balance in some manner and toppled into the water. The boat, with the motor running steadily, would have continued on.
Search boats of the Marine Division of the Vermont State Police were joined by craft from the New York State Police, a helicopter and volunteers in private craft.
Dean said no sign of the miss. ing fisherman was found. The search was halted by darkness.
It will be resumed Friday morning. Dean said.
Bora said Prof. Adams was a regular boat customer and he described the UVM professor as a man who "just enjoyed fishing. Bora said his son, Elton, rented the boat to Adams and he said everything was "just as normal as could be when Adams left.
Dean said the lake was calm and the weather. fine throughout the day.
When Lefebvre recovered the empty boat. he towed it in to the Mill Pond Cabins in Grand Isle and notified police.
If Prof Adams lost his life, he is the 11th victim claimed by Lake Champlain this year. Only two of the 10 bodies have been recovered.
Prof. Adams was a member of the New York Milkshed Pricing Committee in 1947-49. He received an award for public service in 1949 from the U.S. secretary of agriculture.He was a member of the Boston Class I Milk Pricing Committee. 1947-59, and chairman of the Boston Class II Pricing Committee. 1949-51. He was chairman of the New England Milkshed Pricing Committee. 1939-60.
Dr. Adams was born Sept. 16, 1909. in Ames. lowa, son of Elmer E. and Ida (Hess) Adams.
He attended Ames public schools and received a B.S in agriculture from lowa State College in 1932.
== M.S. from UVM ==
He received an MS from the University of Vermont in 1935 and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1943.
Prof. Adams was chairman of Economics at UVM. and was Vermont Extension Service agricultural economist. He had been at UVM since 1943.
He married the former Dorothy M. Johnson in 1933. They have three sons. John. 26, Donald, 22. and Willam, 20."
Lake Gives Up Body of Dr. Thurston Adams.
The Burlington Free Press, Jul 28 1961, P. 2, Cols. 4-6
"SOUTH HERO -- The body of Dr. Thurston M. Adams, 51, was discovered near Savage Island here early Thursday afternoon by a Massachusetts fisherman. ...
Identification was made by Leon Bora of South Hero, a longtime friend of Adams, who rented the boat to the UVM professor July 6. ...
Late Thursday night, Dr. Richard S. Woodruff, state pathologist, said death was by drowning."