On Thursday, Jefferson City honored the late Lorraine Adkins with a monument fitting for our city's "First Lady of Patriotism."
Members of her family unveiled a large stone with a bronze image of Adkins at Jefferson City High School.
Adkins was the wife of Pete Adkins, who was most known for his success as the JCHS football coach, but also was a World War II veteran. Among other things, Lorraine founded Jefferson City's Wreaths for Heroes program.
She died at the age of 88 in April 2017 after a brief illness.
In a Friday story, we reported the ceremony was attended by about 180 well-wishers, including Pete Adkins, son Terry and grandson Blake.
In a video presentation, Pete said: "She was always the boss. She knew how she wanted to see things done, and she expected them to be done at a very high level."
He said she admired and loved veterans, and showed it through her work. Several years ago, Pete traveled on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., to see the monuments and to be remembered for his service. When he returned, Pete said, he told Lorraine about the experience. She said she wanted to see the monuments as well, so they planned a trip and traveled back to the U.S. Capital.
"I think what really got to her was the visit to Arlington Cemetery," he said.
On the return flight, she said she was going to honor service members by putting wreaths and red bows on all the nearly 1,600 graves at the Jefferson City National Cemetery before Christmas. It was something she read had been done elsewhere.
"You can't do that," Pete said he told her. That was a mistake.
"Nobody says 'no' to Lorraine Adkins. Not even me," Pete said at the ceremony.
She started with the program in 2010. She and a committee of about 15 were able to raise money, get area schools involved and organize local vendors for donations and volunteers.
We're glad to see a befitting tribute to Lorraine - a true patriot and a tireless supporters for veterans' issues in our community.