February 1927.

Among the groups of notables at Rotary gatherings of the past few years one might note a lean man of spruce appearance who attracted company as inevitably as honey draws bees. A man with the "New South" written all over him and proclaimed in cadenced accents when he laughed - which was often. A man addicted to rimless glasses, high collars, and a yellow cane that tapped off his swinging strides. This was Albert S. Adams of Atlanta, Georgia, better known to his thousands of friends as "Bert."

He was the first Southerner to become president of Rotary International, and the first of its sixteen presidents to die. Born in Mobile, Alabama, he had moved to Atlanta in 1890 when he was but nineteen. There he gradually became a leader in the real-estate business, and bit by bit took on many other responsibilities. During those twenty-seven years when the South was still recovering from the aftermath of the Civil War here was plenty of opportunity for leadership and Bert Adams found many ways to help his fellows.

Among the various offices he has filled were the presidencies of the Atlanta Advertising Club, Real Estate Board, and Rotary Club. He served as chairman of the Boy Scout council, was a director of the' Chamber of Commerce, director of a national bank, and chairman of the committee that raised $1,000,000.00 among Atlanta Shriners for a new Shrine temple. The Elks, the Knights Templar, and other organizations had a claim on his services, and only failing health induced him recently to resign the presidency of the Georgia State Real Estate board. His place in his own business may be inferred from the fact that he was for several years chairman of the ethics committee of the National Association of Realtors.

From the many tributes evoked by his death we learn of the esteem which his career had brought. These expressions prove that he had earned a popularity which was neither local in scope nor wholly attributable to business success. The Atlanta Georgian and Sunday American has this to say of him:

"It is seldom that one man combines such qualities of sympathy and understanding with a mind active and brilliant. He was broad minded and at the same time conservative. He had the power of making people like him because he was sincere. There was no bluff about Bert Adams. His enthusiasm for the prosperity of this community and his willingness to sacrifice for it were caught by others, as they were based on a solid foundation. He was not selfish; what he had he wanted to share with others."

The Atlanta Journal said:

"In Atlanta's numerous civic enterprises "Bert" Adams was often a leader, always a worker, ready to do yeoman service as well as to give valuable counsel. Whether aiding in some difficult executive task, or mingling with the Boy Scouts, who loved him as a big brother, he was always cheerful, always true. His city even while grieving that he is gone, rejoices that he lived."

Robert S. Parker, president of Bert's home Rotary Club said:

"The distinction of being an international president of Rotary comes to but few men. Mr. Adams filled this important post not only with great ability but in such a way as still further to endear himself to all who came in contact with him.

"But the members of the Atlanta club will remember him best as a sincere, devoted friend Despite the great honors which had come to him, he was always ready to aid in the routine work of the club. It would be impossible to tell how much the club will miss him."

"It is difficult to understand, without knowing the man," said the Atlanta Constitution in an editorial, "his capacity for work, his resourcefulness, how so much activity could be crowded into the life of one whose sun had scarcely kissed the noon."

But those who followed his body to the grave had known him, and in that long procession were representatives of the many organizations which he had served. His death, which came after six months of illness and a partial recovery, occurred on the last day of 1926, a little before he reached his forty-eighth year.

The sympathy of all Rotarians will be extended to his wife and four children, and all his other relatives. Thinking back on his many words of counsel and , cheer, some Rotarians will remember a toast which he gave at the Atlantic City convention (when he was International president) and which he often repeated elsewhere. It runs:

Here's to you, and each of you,

And may you live a million years;

Here's to me, and may I live a million years

Less just one day;

For I would not care to live to hear

That you had passed away.

And so Bert Adams had his wish - in part at least. For though his life of usefulness was shorter than the average it was long enough for him to receive a part of his due reward in the appreciation of his fellow-members, and it was ordained that he should be the first president of Rotary International to make his final curtain bow.

The play goes on - but a debonair figure is no longer in the cast. Whatever the part he played, whatever the robes he wore, he gave a good performance. The audience will not readily forget.