Fred C. Adams

Fred Cruikshank Adams was born in Cedar City in 1931, and spent his early years in Parowan, Delta, and Montpelier, Idaho. He served at the Pentagon during the Korean War, in charge of entertainment and morale-bringing his joy and brilliance to the officers who served with him. Fred touched the lives of countless students as a professor at SUU for thirty-eight years. He was a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, and served a three-year mission in Finland. In 1961, Fred and his beloved wife Barbara Barbara dreamed up their craziest scheme to date: a Shakespearean festival in the hot Utah desert. With blood, sweat, tears, and glitter, they built the Utah Shakespearean Festival into the renowned institution it is today. Throughout his career, Fred received a myriad of prestigious awards and recognitions, including the coveted Tony Award. After forty-four years as executive producer, Fred retired from an active role at USF-though you wouldn't know it from looking at him. Not a day went by that he wasn't seen at the festival: directing shows, acting onstage, raising funds, or even pulling weeds in the statue garden. Fred loved his work and his work-family dearly, and cherished them all his life. In the early morning of February 6, 2020, Fred finally lost a twenty-two year long battle with cancer.