Earl “Brother” Adkins, 90, Jasper
Earl “Brother” Adkins passed away Tuesday in Jasper, Ind.
He was the son of the late Earl and Edith Tisdale of Ashland, Ky. on September 13, 1933.
Earl attended Putnam Junior High and Ashland High School. He graduated from the University of Kentucky, obtained his master’s degree in Education from Western Kentucky University, and earned his Rank I and 40 hours above.
He spent 34 years in Kentucky’s education system coaching basketball at South Hopkins, Union County and Harrodsburg High Schools, principal at Cairo and Morganfield elementary schools and retiring from the Union County Board of Education, where he served as assistant superintendent.
As a player, coach, and administrator, Earl made significant contributions to sports in the state of Kentucky. Among his many accomplishments, as a young boy, he led Oakview Elementary School and Y.M.C.A. sports teams to many victories and championships. He became a great three-sport star at Ashland High School in the 1950s.
As an All-State running back in football, he was offered a football scholarship at the University of Kentucky by Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, but chose to play basketball for Adolph Rupp. In 1953, he was selected as Captain of the Courier Journal’s All-State Basketball Team, voted All-American and given the title of Kentucky’s “Mr. Basketball”. Earl was MVP of the 1953 North-South All-Star Game and received the “Chuck Taylor” award as the top basketball player in the nation. He was recruited by Adolph Rupp and was a member of the “Fiddlin’ Five” 1958 NCAA Championship team. In 2006, Earl was inducted into the KHSAA Hall of Fame. Earl’s life of coaching, teaching, and administrative work all involved tutoring, developing and leading the young people whose lives he touched.
In addition to his parents, Earl was preceded in death by his wife Beverly of 62 years and his brother Ray Adkins.
He is survived by his daughter Linda Rouser of Louisville, Ky.; two sons, Mike Adkins and wife, Ginger, of Birdseye and Greg Adkins of Indianapolis; three grandchildren, Amanda and husband, Brent Burleson, Christine and husband, Derek Szesny, Evan Adkins and Tyler Stigers; sister-in-law, Nancy Hawkins and husband, Paul, of Henderson, Ky.; three great-grandchildren.
Relatives and friends are invited to Earl’s Life Celebration from 12:00 p.m. until the service time on Sunday, January 29, 2023, at Benton-Glunt & Tapp Funeral Home in Henderson, Ky. The memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday at the funeral home.
Arrangements entrusted to Benton-Glunt & Tapp Funeral Home, A Life Celebration Home, online condolences may be made at www.bentongluntandtappfuneralhome.com
