Dr. Betty "Bett" Louise Yates Adams

" It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

On June 12, 2022, we said goodbye to our brilliant, beautiful Bett Yates Adams. She passed away, surrounded by her loved ones, at the age of 79 due to complications from a massive stroke. Her sudden loss has broken our hearts, yet the memory of her remarkable life will always be a blessing to all who knew her.

Bett was born Nov. 22, 1942, in Fort Sill, OK, the oldest of five children of Lawden Henry Yates, Sr. and Bessie Louise (Cooper) Yates. The family settled in Ft. Walton Beach, FL in 1954. They attended the First Baptist Church, where Bett, in one of her first teaching jobs, taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. All worked in the Yates Grocery Store, a well-known landmark on Eglin Parkway. Bett attended Choctawhatchee High School (class of 1960) and completed an English degree with honors at Florida State University in 1967. Her major studies were in the fields of English, French, and American literature with minors in philosophy, psychology, and education. On Aug. 26, 1972, after ten years of research, she was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Florida. Her dissertation was entitled The Collaborative Roles of John Steinbeck and Edward F. Ricketts in the Narrative Section of Sea of Cortez . She walked in the commencement while pregnant with her son Christian—testimony to her unstoppable drive and balancing of roles. She was the first person from her high school to earn a PhD.

"Dr. Bett," as she was invariably known to her students, taught at the elementary, secondary, and college levels in Montana, Texas, Florida, and Washington. Wherever she lived, she continued to lead, multitask, excel, inspire, achieve and thrive throughout an adventurous life. She went on to teach at Florida Southern College and Auburndale High School in Lakeland, FL before transitioning to the newspaper industry to join the New York Times company's Newspaper in Education program. She rose through the ranks, becoming the first woman publisher of a NY Times newspaper, taking the helm at the Fernandina Beach News-Leader , a weekly on Amelia Island, FL.

After marrying Dixon Adams in 1985, Bett "retired" to San Miguel, Mexico in 1990 and reinvented herself yet again, working at the local English newspaper, Atención San Miguel , running the San Miguel Foundation, and engaging in two decades of volunteer work and fundraising. Her interests, aside from lost pets and her own dogs, were gardening, croquet, fashion, decorating, reading, traveling, and entertaining. She returned to Pensacola for her second retirement in 2010, reconnecting with old friends and family and making many new ones, hosting countless parties and events at her home in East Hill .

After Dixon's passing, Bett met Captain A.M. "Mike" Lewis, was swept off her feet, and a new chapter began. They traveled the world, including trips to Spain, the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, and San Miguel, Mexico. In 2020, they acquired "Yonder," a home nested on the brow of Lookout Mountain in Alabama near her mother's ancestral home, a place of great natural beauty that brought Bett an immense feeling of contentment and peace in her final years.

Bett did it all with style and grace. Always the life of the party, a kind friend, a helping hand, a born leader, a gracious and welcoming host of legendary parties, a patron of the arts, an animal lover, a woman with a hat for every occasion and a flair for the dramatic. She was deeply loved, cherished, and doted on by both of her husbands, Dixon Adams and Mike Lewis.

Bett Yates Adams was predeceased by her husband, Dixon David Adams; dear mother, Bessie Louise (Cooper) Yates; father, Lawden Henry Yates, Sr.; brothers, Cooper Leland Yates and Lawden Henry Yates, Jr.; sister, Mary Nell Yates; and stepdaughter, Robin Marie Adams Scott (Keith)—and her dog family, her striking pack of Rottweilers: Brubeck, Winker, Chance, Tatonka, Cante, Deuce , Ocho, and, very recently, Blue.

Survived by her husband, Captain A.M. "Mike" Lewis, U.S. Navy (ret) of Pensacola; brother, Donald Neal Yates (Teresa) of Longmont, CO; half-sisters, Keller Anne Knight (James) of Asheville, NC, Robin LaBounty (David) of Plano, TX and Tracy Sodergren (Karl) of Ooltewah, TN; her only son, Christian Marcos Pérez (Megan Cytron) and grandson, Óscar Marcos Pérez-Cytron of Madrid, Spain; stepson, John Dixon Adams (Melissa), and finally her pups, Wonka, Wink, and Tintin. Beloved aunt, friend, second mother, confidant, teacher, coworker, mentor, neighbor, classmate, and community member to so many. Always in our hearts. Siempre en nuestros corazones.

A Celebration of Her Life will take place on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at 11:00am at Harper-Morris Memorial Chapel, 2276 Airport Blvd, Pensacola, FL 32504, with a reception after TBD.

We ask that, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bett's name to the San Miguel Community Foundation ( https://sanmiguelcommunityfoundation.org ) or Friends of the Escambia County Animal Shelter, (https://www.ecasfriends.com).

Click this link to view additional details about Bett's Services, including any available live streams: https://my.gather.app/remember/bett-adams