Mary Ellen (Hechmer) Adams

     On June 4, 2025 Mary Ellen Adams departed this life lovingly surrounded by her family. She enjoyed one of the fullest of lives, achieving many great things that most people take for granted on their own respective journeys. She was a wife, mother, sister, daughter, a “nama” to all her grandchildren, and took great care in preserving relationships with those she loved and cared for during her life of eighty years.

      Ellen, as everyone knew her, was born in Washington D.C., the oldest of seven children, to Carl (Jr.) and Mary Ellen Hechmer on March 12, 1945. She was a twin to her sister Geraldine, or Gerry, as she was affectionately known by. As she grew with her ever-expanding family, consisting of her brothers Carl (3rd), Francis (Frank), Lawrence (Larry), sisters Ann, and Teresa, she eventually moved with her family to Delaware when her father Carl obtained employment in Delaware as an attorney for DuPont. 

     Ellen graduated from Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, Delaware in 1963. She continued her studies in college and earned a bachelor’s degree in Early Education from Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania. After college, she became a teacher at River Road School in Claymont, Delaware. 

     In 1973, she met her future husband and soulmate, Eugene J. Adams (Jr.) in Claymont, Delaware through a chance meeting with his sister, Margaret. Jay, as he was known by anyone and everyone, was working in the Wilmington area and still a member of the SEABEES in the U.S. Naval Reserves in Lakehurst, New Jersey after an active career overseas as a Gunner’s Mate. A man of the world, he had ended his active service at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and thus destiny was about to reach its prologue between Jay and Ellen.

     From 1973 on, Jay and Ellen lived simple and fulfilling lives, up until his passing on March 2, 2019. They began their journey together in Claymont, bought their first house in Elsmere, and eventually settled in Dover in 1982. They purchased a piece of land outside of the city, where they built their house, which stands and remains in the family to this day. During that period, they were blessed with four children: John, Eugenia (Jeanellen), Micah, and Luke. All grew up and graduated from Dover High School and have since earned advanced degrees in various professions. All have families of their own, complete with children, and they continue to live in Delaware. 

    Ellen worked in several occupations in private and public educational areas. All were related to teaching and tutoring; she even served as a Children’s Librarian for the City of Dover for many years. As a member of Faith City Church in the 1970’s, while serving as its Assistant Director of the Sunday School program, she helped to establish the former Faith City Christian School and served as its Principal. She received her Christian education certification in Texas to obtain her teaching credentials at the request of the head Pastor, Burt Hare. She later assisted in early learning for Montessori education. 

     While in Dover, she taught as a substitute teacher and served as a full-time employee of the Capital School District for years. Additionally, she taught at the Broadmeadow School in Middletown, Delaware for years during her career. She eventually finalized her storied career in education working as both a teacher and tutor for the Central Delaware Christian Academy in Dover, Delaware. The one thing that was evident in her professional life is that she dedicated herself to helping others, namely children, to further their education and prepare them for the rigors of the higher levels of secondary education and beyond.   

     Ellen loved the Christian church and served in many capacities within the church throughout her adult life. She taught Sunday School, helped with other families’ children in education, and showed love to all that she met. Most of all, she loved God. She loved Jesus and believed in the Holy Spirit and devoted her life to living as an example of Christ, always helping others. She stayed positive in her life, in spite of enduring a lifetime with multiple sclerosis and other maladies, ultimately battling alzheimers disease toward the end of her life. Despite these circumstances, she always kept a brave and happy face witnessed for many years by her family and friends, all the way to the end of her journey. 

     It should be noted that as a girl of the East Coast and the Chesapeake Bay, she loved the outdoors. She went camping, fishing, crabbing, and participated in other simple outdoor recreational activities. At various times, she attempted canning vegetables and preserving foods, with mild success. One vegetable she knew how to preserve, even when unforgettably almost setting the house on fire in Elsmere, was the cucumber. She made delicious, pickled cucumbers that were amazing to eat.  She was never afraid to learn or get her hands dirty. She helped Jay at his garage on the Kirkwood Highway in the late 1970’s and again in Dover in the 1980’s at the Route 8/Saulsbury Road location prior to the road expansion in place today. Even after her husband’s death in 2019, she continued to travel with her daughter and her family to various portions of the East Coast and continued to stay active until shortly before her passing.

     Ellen leaves behind a large legacy with her remaining living family. She leaves behind her two remaining sisters, Ann and Teresa. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jay, who she is now reunited with in Heaven. She is survived by all four of her children and their families. John, his wife Kristi, their children, Eliza and Josiah; Eugenia, her husband Adrian, their children Rebekah, Asher, Elisabeth, Jeremiah, and Emily; Micah, his wife Tracey, their children Chyenne, Wyatt, and Brooke; and Luke, his wife Joanne, and his stepdaughter Olivia. She also leaves behind numerous nieces, nephews and their respective families residing all over the United States. She departs with a lasting legacy of friendship and love with many others who knew her and continue to uphold her values of service to others.  

     Undoubtedly, we miss her in this life but wait to reunite with her and the rest of our family and friends in the next one. If she were alive today, she would tell you not to worry, not to cry, not to be sad, for this death is a temporary one, with a promise of a new life to come free of the pain and the suffering in and of this world, a belief she held dear to her heart. In the end, mom left this world holding her hands over her heart, not of anyone else’s positioning, but of her own accord. She loved greatly and received it even more in return. Go and rest in peace.

     A funeral service will be 7:00 P.M. Friday, June 20, 2025 at the Pippin Funeral Home, 119 W. Camden Wyoming Avenue, Wyoming, DE 19934 where there will be a gathering of family and friends from 5:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M. Committal service will be 11:00 A.M. Monday, June 23, 2025 at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 2465 Chesapeake City Road, Bear, DE 19701.  Online condolences may be made via www.pippinfuneralhome.com. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mary Ellen (Hechmer) Adams, please visit our floral store.