Ruth Adkins

Ruth Templeton Adkins, 95, passed away Thursday, December 26, 2024 at Baptist Village in Waycross after a period of declining health.

Mrs. Adkins, the eldest child of the late Charles Ollie and Ruth Eubanks Templeton, was born in Augusta, Georgia and moved to Valdosta along with her family as a small child. In her youth she spent many summers with her grandparents in north Georgia. Her grandfather, a Methodist minister, served churches in such places as Cave Springs, Gracewood, Fairburn and others. While visiting the State Children's Hospital at Gracewood with her grandfather she was profoundly influenced by what she saw for the rest of her life.

She graduated from Valdosta High School and continued her education at Valdosta State College receiving her bachelor's degree and eventually her master's degree. After graduating from Valdosta State and marrying the late Robert C. Adkins, she moved to his hometown of Folkston, Georgia in the summer of 1950. There, she began a nearly 30-year long career as an educator in the public schools of Charlton County.

Mrs. Adkins first teaching position in Folkston was as a high school English teacher. She taught other grades and eventually worked her way "down" to the first grade. She was affectionately known as "Miss Ruth" to many students over the years. Never one to rigidly follow "the rules", she painted the outside door of her classroom a bright red instead of the typical white. She wanted her students to know which classroom was hers so all they had to do was look for the red door and know where they needed to go. When the school's custodian started to repaint the door white, she "pulled rank" and in her usual style, got her way. The door was painted red for as long as she taught in that classroom.

In addition to teaching and having a family, Mrs. Adkins along with her mother-in-law, Ruth M. Adkins, operated Ruth's Flower Shop for nearly 20 years. She designed and arranged flowers for a variety of occasions, often working long hours around her teaching and family responsibilities. She also directed weddings for much of a generation of young brides in Folkston.

In the early 1970's she was drawn to the growing field of special education. Mrs. Adkins was motivated by having had special needs students in her classroom over the years and her memories of the children she saw at Gracewood State Hospital. She recounted that she was especially touched by a young man in her high school classroom because nothing she tried for him seemed to work. He would sit and stare out the window because he didn't understand and couldn't perform the schoolwork. She received her master's degree in special education in the early 1970's and returned to the high school grades to teach special education classes. Mrs. Adkins eventually became the first Special Education Director for the Charlton County School System and also served concurrently as the system's Curriculum Director. Her call to Special Education in the public schools led her to the hallmark of her life at Parkwood Developmental Center in Valdosta.

In the mid 1970's her father, who operated several geriatric nursing homes, opened a facility for the developmentally disabled. Changing times dictated rather than warehousing such individuals in large state institutions, they should be moved into facilities where they could receive proper care and individualized training for the skills necessary to function outside an institution. Initially unable to achieve Federal certification, her father asked Mrs. Adkins if she would come spend a summer working at the facility and offer any suggestions on how to improve the training services provided there. During that summer she saw the facility as much as a large first-grade classroom. There were multiple "children" at a wide range of skill levels and they had to be taught at the same time. She sometimes compared it to a "one room schoolhouse". Following her suggestions, the resulting changes led to the facility becoming licensed and certified by both the State and Federal government. Within a couple of years, Mrs. Adkins ended her career in public education, moved back to Valdosta and became the Program Director of Parkwood Developmental Center. She eventually became the facility's Administrator.

Under her guidance Parkwood received state and national praise for its care and training of the developmentally disabled. During her tenure, she was instrumental in changes to state education policy regarding education of the developmentally disabled. Those changes resulted in the school-aged children at Parkwood, who were from around the state, being able to attend public schools in Valdosta. She took the care of each client at Parkwood as a serious responsibility. She was each client's best and most determined advocate, often ruffling more than a few feathers in the process. She did not hesitate to challenge the traditional models of care common in those type of facilities at the time. Mrs. Adkins would remind anyone that the training and education of the clients was an important part of their care and integral to their wellbeing. Her career at Parkwood Developmental Center lasted over 20 years.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Adkins is predeceased by her oldest son, Robert C. Adkins, Jr., as well as all her siblings, Diane Templeton Brown, Olletta Templeton Baggett and Charles Ollie Templeton, Jr.

She leaves behind her son, Kyle Adkins and his wife, Kathy, of Folkston; Robert's wife, Michelle Thiele Adkins of Valdosta; her grandchildren, Katy Ruth Huling and her husband, Benji, Rebeccah Phillips and her husband, Will, all of Folkston, Heather Adkins of Valdosta, Charles Adkins and his wife, Katie, of Ft. Stewart, GA; her great grandchildren, Gabe Huling, David Huling, Sibley Ruth Phillips, Robbie Adkins, C. J. Huling and Mercer Phillips; as well as a sister in law, Betty Dow Templeton of Valdosta and several nieces and a nephew.

Mrs. Adkins will be laid to rest, with her parents and siblings, in a graveside funeral service at Sunset Hill Cemetery in Valdosta on Monday, December 30, 2024 at 1:00 PM. Rev. Robbie Paulk of Folkston Methodist Church will officiate.

Rather than flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her memory to either the Charlton County High School Drama Department, 994 Indian Trail, Folkston, GA 31537 or Folkston Methodist Church, P. O. Box 396, Folkston, GA 31537.

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OXLEY-HEARD FUNERAL DIRECTORS