Neil Adams

Neil Pat Adams, age 62, went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on February 23, 2022 after losing his life in the line of duty. He was born on February 18, 1960 in Brownwood, Texas and moved to West Houston at the age of three. Although he grew up in the city, he always had a great love for the country and spent many weekends with his parents and siblings on his parents land outside of Cleveland, Texas. This land is where he lived for the past 18+ years. He loved playing baseball and football as a young boy and teenager and was a great athlete.

Neil graduated from the Angelina College Police Academy in 2012, where he received many awards. He began his work as a deputy for the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Department following. Prior to this, he had worked as a 911 dispatcher at this same department and as a volunteer firefighter for the Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department. He loved what he did, serving and protecting the community, and he was great at it.

As much as he loved his job though, he loved his family much more. He married the love of his life, DeeDee, in 2013. He adored his children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, nephews and niece and the numerous aunts, uncles and cousins that he had. He enjoyed taking care of his family, the land, and his horses, cats and dogs. His caring heart was as big as his stature.

Neil was a very hard worker…and Neil was funny! He could make any situation he spoke about so humorous. It was not unusual for those in his presence to be crying from laughter at the way he could tell a story or perform a silly act. He simply had an uncanny way of making people laugh. One could sit and listen to him tell stories for hours. He was definitely quite the character. His family and friends said he should have been a stand-up comedian!

He is preceded in death by his grandparents, Arthur and Lorene Adams of Cleveland, Texas and Sara Ardis of Abilene, Texas. Left to honor his memory are his wife, DeeDee Adams, his daughters, Sabrina Barnett (Matthew) and Kaela VanGilder (Eric), a son, Tyler Compton, four grandchildren, Valarie, Nicholas, Ellie, and Sailor, his parents, Pat and Jeannine Adams, two sisters, Angela Adams and Laurel Hintz (Ross), niece, Anjie Davis (Jim), two nephews, Alex Hintz and Ryan Hintz, three aunts, Sara Castleman, Karen “Bit” Robertson, and Lisa Newman (Kerry) along with many cousins who adored him.

Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 2, 2022, at San Jacinto County Community Shelter, 225 Live Oak Coldspring, Texas 77331. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, March 3, 2022, at San Jacinto County Community Shelter, Coldspring, Texas. Interment will follow at Montague Cemetery, Cleveland, Texas.