By TERRY HOUSHOLDER
ALBION - The son of a newspaper
publisher, Edwin Ross Adair, was Noble County's most successful
politician in the 20th century.
A lawyer by profession, Adair served 20 years in the U.S. House
of Representatives from the 4th congressional district of Indiana.
Defeated for re-election in 1970 by former 5th District U.S.
Rep. J. Edward Roush, Adair was appointed by President Richard
Nixon as U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia in 1971. He retired in 1974,
resuming his law practice in Fort Wayne. He died in 1983 at the
age of 75.
Susan Prickett, former publisher of the Albion New Era, had
a close association with Adair over the years. Her late husband,
Richard Prickett, purchased the weekly newspaper from Adair's
father, E.L. Adair, in 1940, and worked for 18 years as Congressman
Adair's administration assistant in Washington, D.C.
''Ross Adair was the nicest man I knew - he was a real gentleman,''
Mrs. Prickett said at the time of Adair's death. ''He took his
job as congressman very seriously and was extremely interested
in the district. Albion had a special place in his heart and he
would often come back to his hometown to get a feeling of what
the people were thinking in the district.''
Born Dec. 14, 1907, in Albion, Adair was the son of Edwin Luther
and Alice (Prickett) Adair. His father was county superintendent,
in addition to publishing the New Era. He attended grade school
in Albion and graduated from Albion High School in 1924.
''Ross was a leader, even in school,'' said Kenneth Thomas
of Albion, at the time of Adair's death. Thomas grew up with Adair
and served as best man in his wedding. ''He was just one of those
all-round compassionate persons who tried to do what was right.
He helped people regardless of their political creed and was an
honest soul - something we need more of in Washington.''
Mrs. Charles (Helen) Fraze, who grew up two doors down from
Adair in Albion, also had fond memories of Adair. ''I remember
him as always being fair. Even as a boy he was a leader,'' she
said in a 1983 interview. ''He was president of our class at Albion
High School and always enjoyed returning every year for the class
reunions.''
Adair received a degree from Hillsdale College, Hillsdale,
Mich., in 1928. He earned his law degree from George Washington
University Law School in Washington, D.C., in 1933.
He was admitted to the Indiana Bar Association and began practicing
law in Fort Wayne in 1933.
Adair served his country in World War II, rising from the rank
of second lieutenant to major. He was awarded battle stars for
the Normandy, Northern France, Aredennes, Rhine and Central European
campaigns.
Adair returned to northeastern Indiana after the war, rejoining
his law firm in Fort Wayne.
In 1950, he entered politics, seeking the Republican nomination
for Congress in an effort to win back the 4th District seat won
by 30-year-old Fort Wayne attorney Edward Kruse Jr., a Democrat,
in 1948. Kruse had defeated incumbent GOP U.S. Rep. George W.
Gillie, a veterinarian and former sheriff of Allen County, who
had served in Congress since 1939.
Adair, who ran on his war record and anti-communist stance,
defeated Kruse in a landslide, capturing 57 percent of the vote
to his opponent's 43 percent.
Serving in the minority in the House through much of his tenure,
Adair was not an influential Washington insider, but was a popular
political figure back home. He took pride in helping fellow veterans
while serving on the House Veterans Affairs Committee. He also
served on the important House Foreign Affairs Committee and was
a loyal supporter of President Richard Nixon's foreign policy.
He won re-election handily in strong Republican years - most
notably in 1952, 1954, 1956, 1962, and 1966. And he survived major
challenges in the national Democratic landslide years of 1958
(against W. Robert Fleming) and 1964 (versus Fort Wayne attorney
Max E. Hobbs).
Adair's race in 1968 drew national attention when redistricting
threw 5th District U.S. Rep. Ed Roush, a Democrat from Huntington,
into the new 4th District.
Adair edged his fellow lawmaker narrowly in 1968. But Roush
turned the tables in 1970, despite a late-campaign visit to Fort
Wayne by President Richard Nixon which drew over 12,000 to the
Allen County Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.
Leaving Congress in 1971, Nixon rewarded Adair's past loyalty
with an ambassador's post to the east African nation of Ethiopia
which was ruled by the aging pro-American Emperor Haile Selassie.
Political unrest in Ethiopia increased in Adair's tenure and Haile
Selassie was arrested and deposed in Adair's final year in Ethiopia.
Selassie died under questionable circumstances in August 1975,
while under house arrest.
After leaving his post, Adair returned to Fort Wayne, and was
a senior partner in the law firm of Adair, Perry, Beers, Mallers
& Larmore.
He received honorary doctor of laws degrees from Indiana Institute
of Technology in 1964 and from Indiana University in 1982.
Adair suffered from heart disease in his later years. He died
on May 7, 1983, of congestive heart failure, a day after undergoing
coronary bypass surgery.
He was survived by his wife, Marian, a son, Stephen Adair,
and a daughter, Caroline Dimmers, and five children.
His funeral drew over 300 mourners to services at Forest Park
United Methodist Church, Fort Wayne, where he served. He was buried
in Greenlawn Memorial Park on Covington Road, Fort Wayne.
Among those who eulogized him were then-Allen County Republican
Party chairman Orvas E. Beers, a Noble County native and lifelong
friend and business partner; Dr. George Roche, president of Hillsdale
College; and then-U.S. Rep. Dan Coats, R-4th.
Beers said Adair will be remembered for a legacy of service
and Roche called Adair ''a giving man with a very kind heart.''
''Ross Adair was someone who demonstrated the good things through his sensitivity to people and their problems,'' said Coats. ''I had a trail blazed for me, and I'm proud to be walking in Ross Adair's shoes.''