Born October 10, 1932, in Pass Christian, Mississippi, Adam was diagnosed with severe asthma as a child and sent to Phoenix. There, he attended Southern Arizona School for Boys and studied for the priesthood. After his 1963 ordination as an Episcopal minister, he was sent to oversee construction of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church on Nellis Boulevard in Las Vegas and became its first pastor. Shortly thereafter, he went to Utah to seek support to build a children's home.

In the mid-1960s, Adam approached then-Sun newspaper Publisher Hank Greenspun for help in getting St. Jude's Ranch off the ground."Whoever attempts in some fashion to salvage young lives, the effort should be made by all to see that such work should not be in vain," Greenspun wrote in 1966. "Fortunately for Southern Nevada, there is a man who has a dream."

Boulder City sold Adam and his supporters 40 acres for $1 to use as the site for St. Jude's. The $1 for that land purchase was symbolically donated by Adam's great-aunt, then-95-year-old Catholic nun Sister Mary of the Cross, who shared Adam's dream. Adam returned to Southern Nevada from Utah in 1966 after Boulder City and surrounding communities showed interest in establishing a home for at-risk children in Southern Nevada.

While preparing to host a fundraising gala to build a Southern Nevada children's home in 1966, Father Jack Adam worried charging $25 per seat might scare off potential patrons. After all, the only entertainers signed up for that mid-November

show at the Riviera Hotel were Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Shecky Greene, Jack Benny, Eddie Fisher, Connie Francis, Frank Fontaine and Red Buttons! After the show to a packed house, the ever frugal Benny half-jokingly chided the man everyone knew as "Father Jack" for not charging $100 a ticket. Nevertheless, the more than $30,000 raised during that event helped fulfill Adam's dream to build St. Jude's Ranch for Children in Boulder City, Nevada. Today, that facility has improved the lives of hundreds of abused, abandoned and neglected children.

Due to declining health in his later years, Adam moved to Mesa, Arizona where he had a long career as a jeweler and jewelry shop owner. His family said Adam spent the last 40 years of his life making cash contributions anonymously to St. Jude's Ranch and to youth causes in Mexico and Nicaragua.

Father Jack Adam passed at the age of 74 in 2007 but his vision lives on today in the many programs, campuses and services St. Jude's Ranch offers to children in need. More than 1,000 children have since passed through our doors. We are currently licensed to care for 120 children organization wide, with approximately 60 children at the Boulder City Campus and the other 60 at the two Texas campuses. 

"We will forever be thankful to Father Jack for his vision, foresight and courage to build St. Jude's Ranch for Children," St. Jude's Ranch Chief Executive Officer Christine J. Spadafor said. "He gave children new hope and opportunities they never dreamed possible."