Cornell L.

Adams

A LEGACY OF LOVE

Dr. Cornell Lewis Adams

March 21, 1935 – February 24, 2021

Dr. Cornell Lewis Adams was born March 21, 1935 in Birmingham, Alabama. The oldest child of William and Cleola Adams. When his parents ultimately divorced, Cleola married Charlie G. Lewis.  Cornell attended Birmingham Public Schools, graduating from Ullman High School in 1953. It was at this time that Cornell changed his name to add the Lewis as his middle name in honor of his stepfather.  His dearest friends in high school called themselves "The Gentlemen of Gratitude" and that is where he started playing football as a member of the Wolfpack. Upon graduation from High School Cornell joined the United States Army from 1953-1956 being honorably discharged with the rank of Staff Sergeant.  Next he attended his much-loved Shaw University  from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry, in 1960. While at Shaw he was on the track team and played the football position of Cornerback, #23.  It was at Shaw that Cornell pledged his beloved Beta Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity Inc. A leader among his Brothers, Cornell was known for being gregarious and devoted to the cause of Civil Rights.  Throughout his college career, he lead the Civil Rights Movement in Raleigh organizing the Sit Ins and being arrested for his efforts.  His leadership and steadfastness made him the principal organizer for the joint SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) Chapters of Shaw University and St. Augustine's College in Raleigh.  During this time, Cornell also met and became engaged to the love of his life, DeJuanna Rebecca Browning who he married in Brooklyn on August 14, 1959. They remained married until her death on August 15, 2015 sharing a life together for 56 years. He and DeJuanna started their married life in New York City, living in various boroughs. They later settled in Bergen County New Jersey.

After college, Cornell joined the New York City Fire Department where he worked for over 10 years.  Simultaneously he worked at Acralite Company as a Polymer Chemist from 1960-1977 and next he worked at Kerr Manufacturing Company , also in Brooklyn specializing in Dental Polymers. Prior to leaving Acralite , Cornell founded Accurate Set, Inc. in June of 1969, a Dental Manufacturing Company  that served the national and international dental community for over 40 years.    Cornell was a focused and loving father to the couple's only child, Lesley Renee, who arrived in January 1967.  Cornell who was big on investing in the stock market, often told Lesley that she was his most important investment.  After Lesley entered high school, DeJuanna joined Cornell at Accurate Set, they worked together for 25 years. DeJuanna served as the office manager while Cornell was the President and Research Chemist, the company typically had eight employees full time.

Cornell was a huge football fan, making "Gentlemens" bets on games with his brothers-in-law, and friends during every season until 2014.  Continuing his commitment to Civil Rights, every year he and Lesley would go on Marches that promoted and supported the expansion of citizen rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution,  with their last march being in 2014.    His neighbors and friends were often the beneficiaries of weekend cookouts and views of Cornell on his roof cleaning or cultivating his luscious green lawn. He was involved in the Bergen County Community as a member of  Kappa Theta Lamda Chapter, becoming a Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha in 1987 and the Englewood Social Club where he was a member from 1978 to 2012.  His crowning achievement with ESC were the donations they made to Meharry Medical College, Schools of Medicine and Dentistry  and Shaw University in addition to his work on the ESC Gala and Club Weekend Committee.  He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in December of 2015 and ultimately succumbed to it after contracting the Covid-19 virus on February 11, 2021 on February 24, 2021.

However, his life of   85 years is not defined by the slice of the 2020 Pandemic but by what he did while he was on this Earth.  He filed three patents and had one issued on September 24, 1985,  #3,543,206.  Cornell took his wife, daughter and sometimes joined by his niece Angie on many trips all over the country and several times they traveled internationally. Bermuda, Bahamas, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Europe and Turkey to name a few of their trips.

Based on his selfless service to others, Cornell was recognized many times, with honors, awards and commendations over the years,  all of which acknowledged his relentless commitment to public service, receiving:

an Honorary PHD in Science from Shaw University,

a member of the Board of Trustees of Shaw University from 2006-2010

NAACP Life Member Award- 1996

Rutgers University, Edmund L. Houston Foundation, Most Successful Minority Business Award, May 31, 1981

Kappa Theta Lamda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Man of the Year, May 19, 1979 .

Bergen Passaic Howard University Alumni Club Entrepreneur and Active Role Model Award, March 11, 1990

Certificate of Appreciation from Irvington High School, Marketing and Distributive Education Program, 1982-1983

New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry, Commonwealth Dental Society Honoree, February 21, 1990

National Dental Association Recognition of 25 Years of Service, July 28, 1994

In addition Cornell was the first Black President of the Dental Manufacturers of America (DMA) a trade organization made up of small to Fortune 500 companies across the country, from 1989 to 1990.

Cornell lived with his wife, daughter and three pets: Bob-lo, Delta (the one and only cat) and his beloved dog Jeter, named after the Yankee MVP, who survives him.

Cornell was particularly proud of his daughter Lesley Renee when she graduated from the University of Akron School of Law and adding to that pride as the  "crowning glory" was watching his daughter be sworn in as Bergen County's first Black woman Municipal Court Judge.

Cornell was an active member of the North Jersey Shaw University Alumni Association for many years, and received his final award from that group on December 4, 2016.

Cornell is preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, DeJuanna, and survived  by his daughter, Lesley Renee; brother, William Adams, his nephews, William, Jessie, Anthony and Barry Adams; nephew Darnell Kyles and niece Montress C. Kyles, (children of his late sister, Dora Adams Kyles) and her husband, John Kyles(Harlem, NY); sister Marilyn Lewis (Bradenton, FL); sister Flora Lewis Giles, her husband Sherman Giles and nephews Sherman Irvin Giles (Lisa Muse Giles) great nephew Braxton and great niece Reese, and Michael Enoch Giles (Sheronda Giles) great niece Aria and great nephews Greyson and Chase; sister-in-law Bernice Browning (wife of the late Walter Browning, Jr.) and nieces, Tracie O'Hara  Browning and Joy Elaine Browning (Knightdale, NC); niece Angela S. Grundy (Claremont, CA) (daughter of the late Sherman and Zenobia Browning Grundy);  and  a number of cousins, and vast host of friends.

While acknowledging that we now grieve his absence from this realm of existence, we are thankful to God for the life of Cornell Lewis Adams--a life well-lived.  His legacy as a loving husband and father, fierce friend, generous neighbor, life of the party, real and "play" uncle--will live on and on.