George Lawrence Adkins Jr.

George Lawrence Adkins Jr. "Boe", age 95, passed peacefully on Monday, October 5, 2020. He was born in a coal mining camp in West Virginia, on July 25, 1925. He grew up in Whitesville, West Virginia. He was the sixth of eleven children born to George Lawrence Adkins and Alberta Deborah Murray. He attended Sherman High School in Seth, West Virginia where he met his high school sweetheart, Betty Whitney. They married on July 12, 1945 and were married fifty-five years until Betty's death in 2000.

Boe served in the Navy Reserves and transitioned active Navy during WWII. He attended Emory and Henry College in 1943 in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to Navy commission. He trained at the United States Naval Reserve Midshipman's School at Notre Dame and was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Naval reserve. He then entered active duty and served on the USS Iowa BB 61 in the Pacific.

Post WWII he graduated from West Virginia University College of Mechanical Engineering with High Honors. Upon graduation, he was recruited by Sandia National Laboratories and moved Betty and his two daughters to Albuquerque in July 1953. He received his Master of Science degree from UNM in 1962. He retired from Sandia in 1991 after 38 years.

Boe's passions in addition to career were camping, hunting, fishing, and spending time with family. He met Mary Koenig Robinson at the Presbyterian Healthplex gym. They married in 2007 and remained married until his death. He and Mary shared a love of country western music and attended many concerts. Mary also arranged a very memorable trip to Los Angeles to tour the USS Iowa BB 61.

He is survived by wife, Mary Adkins; brother, Joeddie Adkins of Nicholls, Georgia; sisters, Joan Howard of Green Valley, Arizona, and Helen Payne of Jacksonville, Arkansas; daughters, Barbara Stetz and husband, Robert, Deborah Kollander; and son, Lawrence Adkins and wife, Pamela; grandchildren, James D. Baca, Michael Kollander, Nathan Kollander, Amber Adkins, and Danielle Barry. Also, four great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. Cremation has taken place, as well as a private family celebration of life.

A Private Memorial Service will be live-streamed Thursday, November 5, 2020, 6:00 p.m., by clicking here: http://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/39934