In the very early hours of the first of February 2024, Hugh Reeves Adair died at home, the place bursting with family and his closest friends. He departed this earth in the same manner he chose to walk it: peacefully and with his wife and five daughters at his side.

Reeves was born on October 14th 1943, in Panama City Florida, to Sidney and Frances (Morris) Adair. He was gifted by God with a passion and inherent talent for music that he shared with all of his communities throughout his life, from his childhood traveling choir, to his service in church, to local music groups and community theater. He shared his guitar-playing and his voice―my God, his voice was unmissable and unforgettable―with everyone; he reserved his piano-playing for his home and family.

Reeves excelled in mathematics and science, graduating high school first in his class, and attending the United States Naval Academy. He entered into the submarine service as an officer upon his graduation in 1965, the same year he married Joyce Dee Scherberger, his great love for the 59 years God gave them together. They raised five daughters wherever the Navy sent them, until Reeves retired from military service in 1993, having achieved his "overall goal" in his Naval Academy Annual―to receive his own command, USS Boston (SSN-703)―and achieving so very much more. Twenty-two year old Reeves could have never imagined all the places his career could take him. Those of us he left behind still cannot imagine; that man kept infuriatingly mum about most of it. But we do know what a hero he truly was then, and what a hero he continues to be in our hearts.

Reeves's retirement was in-name-only; he spent more than two decades putting his electrical engineering degree to good use, running power plants in Northern New York before truly retiring. Reeves and Joyce Dee made their final house move to South Carolina so that they could spend those years close to their youngest grandbabies.

Reeves's daughters remember his patience and his consistency. He was a protector. He instilled in us honesty and integrity. He believed love was a verb, and lived his life demonstrating that. He was a quiet man; this meant that when he spoke, people listened. This quietness was the only lesson his daughters just couldn't quite grasp. But we'd like to believe he secretly relished our chaos.

Reeves was a devoted husband who entrusted his final years to the loving care of his wife; Joyce Dee could not be dragged from his side.

Hugh Reeves Adair was predeceased by his father Sidney and mother Frances; by his father-in-law and mother-in-law Richard and Virginia Scherberger; by his brothers-in-law Richard Scherberger and Larry Respess.

Reeves leaves behind his wife Joyce Dee; his five daughters and their husbands, Christine and Boyd Milling, Kimberly and Cory Veilleux, Kathryn and Jason Sabaka, Sarah and Samuel Christiansen, and Lindsey and Garrin Fossum. He leaves behind his many, many grandchildren; Luke, Bailey, Devin, Kris, Savannah, Rebecca, Kenzie, Connor, Emily, Ethan, Lincoln, Wyatt, and Maisie; and his great-grandchild, Savannah's little boy, CJ. He leaves behind his sister Gwen Respess, Gwen's sons Don and Bill, their wives Althea and Jane, and Gwen's grandchildren Jasmine, Camille, Sydney, and Sheridan.

Reeves led by example; he taught us to persevere. We are really trying.

A celebration of Hugh Reeves Adair's life will be held on Sunday, the 4th of February at 11am at McDougald Funeral Home in Anderson SC. All who loved him―which is to say everyone who knew him―are invited to attend.