Flake Long Adkins, Jr.

Flake Long Adkins, Jr., aged 95, of Melrose, Florida, died peacefully at his home on March 4, 2025. Born on October 8, 1929, in Trinidad, Colorado, Mr. Adkins spent most of his childhood in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from North Carolina State University in 1951. He then returned to Winston-Salem to work at Western Electric Company, where he met Clara Gordon, a co-worker. After sharing many dates at the original Krispy Kreme shop in Winston-Salem, Flake and Clara married on Valentine’s Day, 1953. Just a few months after their marriage, he was drafted into the United States Army, where he served in the Signal Corps until 1955. Though he was based in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, he spent several weeks in the United States territory of Alaska.

​Flake and Clara had two children, Charles Gregory and Mary Elizabeth, and moved to Palm Bay, Florida in 1960, where he worked for a contractor for the defense and space industries. He worked on many projects, including the Apollo rocket program, satellite communications, and digital audio technology. 

​The Adkins family enjoyed fishing and boating in the Indian River, and one of Flake’s proud accomplishments was serving as the flotilla commander for the local Coast Guard Auxiliary. In summers, the family enjoyed taking long camping trips to the American West, and after Flake retired, he and Clara traveled extensively with their motor home club, even driving to Alaska. 

Flake and Clara moved to Melrose, Florida, in 1998, where they lived near their daughter and son-in-law. He was an accomplished woodworker, making furniture, toys, and garden gates. Even in later years, after macular degeneration took his sight, he amazed family and friends by figuring out the materials needed, down to the board-foot and hardware, of projects others would discuss with him. He also had a mechanical bent, getting down on the workshop floor to do lawnmower repair at age 90. 

He is survived by Clara; Charles; Mary (Mitchell Prugh); two grandchildren, Gregory Charles Adkins (Rachel) and Colin Robert Adkins (Bonnie); three great-grandchildren, Brixton, Beckham, and Brody. He was preceded in death by his parents, Margaret Clegg Rives and Flake Long Adkins, Sr., and his sister, Barbara Joyce.

​A memorial service will be held at Melrose United Methodist Church on April 1 at 3:00 p.m., with refreshments later in the fellowship hall.

​In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Melrose Fire Department, 301 Cypress Street, Melrose, FL  32666.

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