Theresa Elizabeth Adams

On May 29, 1944, Theresa Adams became the youngest daughter to Ruth Elizabeth Dorsey and Norman Ellsworth Dorsey Sr. As a child, Theresa was raised in Washington, D.C. and was educated in the District of Columbia Public Schools.  She graduated from Eastern High School in 1962.  She completed some college credits and went on to work for the Government in various positions.

 In 1964 she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Robert. Then, in 1967 she married Robert Colbert, III and to this union Ronald and Daryl were born.  In 1980 the family moved to Spotsylvania, Virginia and she began working for the city of Fredericksburg and met her soon to be daughter- in-law Tracy. Through Tracy, she began working for the Department of the Navy, as a Management Analyst working for the Naval Sea Systems Command.  Later in her career she accepted a position with the Naval Air Systems Command, from where she worked until her retirement.

 In July of 2000, she married John Adams Jr. and moved to Hurlock, MD. There she remained until 2009 after John’s death. While in Hurlock, she became a member of the Hurlock Methodist church in which she developed a church family.  Upon the death of her second husband, she returned to the Washington Metropolitan area.  In 2016 she reunited with her high school sweetheart, Ray Hawkins, and moved to Clarksburg, Maryland.

Throughout her life Theresa developed an extensive array of friends, and she adopted many of her friend’s children, as her own.  Her biggest hobbies were bingo, going to the casino, cruises, and playing the lottery. Theresa was not shy about giving her opinion but gave it in a loving way.  She would often say that “I’m not going to tell you what you want to hear but what you need to hear.”  Her favorite greeting was “I am much better now that I see you.”

 Theresa was preceded in death by her parents, Ruth and Norman Dorsey, her sister Delores “Lambie” Swan, her brother Roland, her son Robert, and her husband John.  She is survived by her brother Norman Dorsey, (Elizabeth), her sister-in-law, Rachel Dorsey (Roland’s wife), her son Ronald (Rona), and her son Daryl (LaKrystle), her stepdaughter Jeanenne, and her stepson Jamie (Sarenee). Grandchildren are Robert, Tiokha, Cassandra, Daryl, Jordan, Miata, Malia, Sierra, Elijah, Maliyah, Jayden, Jevon, and Jordan. Great grandchildren: Kaira, Jamari, Koen, Lila, and Nori.  She also has a niece (Arlene), nephews (Stephen and David), and a host of friends and adopted family.

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