Barbara G. Adams

Barbara Gayle Gaddie Adams was the wife of Fred C. Adams, the founder of the Utah Shakespeare Festival. In the early years of the festival, she took over the Green Show and the music, teaching locals to play English recorders. She became one of the first presidents of the Festival Guild. She served for two years as the Dean of Women at Southern Utah State College (now Southern Utah University).

Her university training, however, was in speech and hearing. She graduated from Utah State University with a degree in theatre and speech with a minor in speech and hearing. She earned a master’s of fine arts degree from the University of Washington in the graduate program in speech pathology and audiology. She had taught at Cedar City High School for two years prior to her graduate studies and afterwards established an audiology program in Iron County School District.

She was born on March 13, 1932, in Garland, Utah, and lived in Sugar City and Idaho Falls, Idaho. She and Fred eloped to the St. George Temple on May 29, 1963. They were the parents of four children. She died on October 22, 2008. She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.