The Moapa Valley community experienced a significant loss last week with the death of one of its most prominent citizens. Wes Adams of Logandale passed away unexpectedly last Friday in Salt Lake City, Utah after undergoing surgery.
To many people in the community, Wes Adams was known simply as the owner of the biggest house in town; a large home on the east bench of the valley overlooking his expansive Logandale ranch. Indeed, Mr. Adams achieved tremendous financial success and built a business empire in the region through the development of several major construction and ranching companies.
But Wes Adams was much more than just one of the wealthiest men in town. He was a man with tremendous generosity of spirit; a man who loved his community and his neighbors and who willingly shared his wealth to assist programs, institutions, families and individuals needing his help.
In speaking with various leaders of local organizations over the past few days about Mr. Adams and his wife Liz, we have found evidence at every turn of this couple’s deep impact on the Moapa Valley community. In nearly every case a common theme runs through these conversations. At some point in the interview, each community leader would invariably say something like, “Whenever we needed something and couldn’t get it any other way, Wes was always there, willing to help us out.”
The stories of Mr. Adams’ community-minded generosity are, of course, too numerous to fully chronicle here. But there are a few examples worthy of specific mention.
It is well known that Mr. Adams was a big rodeo fan. As a younger man, he was involved in rodeo competition himself. His five children have all been brought up in the sport and have achieved success in rodeo competition in the national professional arena. All this is fairly well known.
Lesser known are the opportunities that Adams and his wife have afforded to many local youngsters to participate in rodeo. Rodeo is an expensive sport to play. It involves major ticket items: horses, trailers, livestock, equipment, arenas and the list goes on and on. Many kids, who might otherwise be inclined to participate, are limited by the high cost. But according to MVHS Rodeo Club advisor, Cheryl Rawson, the Adamses opened that door to many youth who would otherwise have found it closed to them.
“Wes always befriended the underdog and on so many occasions he helped kids in rodeo who never would have been able to do it on their own,” Rawson said.
This help could include mounting kids on horses, helping them with transport to various events and, of course, opening the ranch to young riders for regular practice and training. The rodeo club had a night reserved every week where the kids would come to practice at the arena on the Adams’ ranch.
“I always marvelled at how generous (the Adams) were with what they owned,” Rawson said.
This support of rodeo in the community also extended over to the Clark County Fair and Rodeo. Fair General Manager, Todd Robison remarked that Wes Adams was a great supporter to the Fair. Of course, this included cash support through sponsorship. But it also included other kinds of support. Robison remembered that when the Fair was rebuilding and refurbishing the fairgrounds rodeo arena, Adams sent people in his employ to help out with the construction.
Most of all, Robison said, he valued Adams advice and experience when it was needed. “It seemed like anything we asked, Wes would jump right in and say: Yes,” Robison said. “You always knew that you could count on him.”
Over the years, Mr. Adams and his wife have also shown tremendous dedication to the youth of the community. Year after year, they have offered up the beautiful swimming pool facilities at their home to the MVHS Senior class for the party that traditionally follows graduation ceremonies. This they have continued to do even long after their own children have graduated.
The Adams have also given other support to the local high school. Former MVHS principal, Dr. Larry Moses, remembers one such instance. When the high school was constructed it was not equipped with lights for the tennis courts.
“The district told us that we didn’t need lighted tennis courts and that they weren’t building us a country club here,” Moses said.
Moses explained that Wes Adams had stepped in at that time and agreed to foot the bill for lighted tennis courts at the high school for the community’s use; paying the full cost for all the materials and installation to the facility.
In the area of education in the community, Adams also showed tremendous vision. He was involved in the early funding of the Desert Valley College which is currently being proposed as an LDS values-based institution of higher education in the Moapa Valley.
“Wes truly caught the vision of what such an institution could do for the community,” said former College Board chair Ace Robison. “He jumped right in and backed it up with his support and advice.”
Finally, Wes Adams’ generosity extended beyond community institutions to specific individuals and families who needed help. He often sought for opportunities to assist Moapa Valley neighbors. We have heard of many instances where the Adamses have offered kind assistance to friends in need; sometimes with just small things, often in very substantial ways; but always quietly and without a lot of fanfare.
Of course, these are just a few instances of the community legacy left by Wes Adams. And they admittedly only scratch the surface. We may never know the full scope of generosity that this man has brought to his community. And, quite frankly, we probably don’t need to know it all. In truth, Mr. Adams, so often working quietly behind the scenes, would probably have preferred it that way.
Our deepest condolences go out to the Adams family at this time. Wes Adams will be sorely missed by the folks of his beloved hometown of Moapa Valley.
