Astoria, OR - On September 7, 1934, in a small farmhouse on the Kansas Missouri border, Naomi Ruby Adams (Main) and James William Adams celebrated the birth of their daughter, Nettie Louise.

When Nettie was five, the family moved to Filer, Idaho where she entered Victory School. Tragedy struck when Nettie was eight when the family house burned down resulting in her mother's death. The family moved back to Missouri to live with grandparents and extended family. When her father moved back to Idaho, Nettie, her sister Margaret and brother Kenneth lived briefly at the Goodlander Children's Home in Fort Scott, Kansas. Nettie recalled that for an orphanage, it wasn't that bad, as the matrons and guardians were nice to the children and the food was good.

Nettie and her sister and brother returned to Idaho after three years and Nettie entered Filer High School graduating in 1952. She regularly attended class reunions; the last in 2025 where she was a little disappointed that she was not the oldest graduate in attendance.

Nettie moved to Astoria after graduation, and on a cold Thanksgiving weekend, while ice skating on Tucker Creek, her heart warmed when she met Philip James (Abbie) Blair. The two courted for two years while Abbie fished in Alaska, marrying on August 21, 1954.

Nettie worked for the State of Oregon Motor Vehicle Division until the birth of her sons, Michael and Randy. When they started school, she began working for Tongue Point Job Corps Center. Nettie then served a short stint with the US Maritime Office while they decommissioned the mothballed Pacific Reserve Fleet, Astoria Group. When her third son, Bruce, started school she went to work for Point Adams Packing Company, a job she held until she retired in 2025.

Lest you think all Nettie did was work, she and Abbie enjoyed travelling. They made a few trips to Scandinavia researching family roots; spent many months of March in Mexico, and one winter in Costa Rica.

Nettie also devoted much of her time to the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival and the Clatsop County 4H and FFA Fair. During their events she could often be seen talking and visiting, she knew everyone.

Nettie passed on December 6th, 2025 and is survived by her three boys, as well as her granddaughters and great-granddaughters and great-grandsons. Her philosophy of life might best be summed up in a line Christopher Sly speaks in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew when he says, "... sit by my side and let the world slip; we shall ne'er be younger."

Join us to celebrate Nettie's life on August 22, 2026 at the Olney Grange from noon to four.