Pacific Asia Museum

NEWS ARCHIVE

Summer 2007

In Memoriam: Sofia Adamson
August 24, 1916–May 19, 2007
A Founding Trustee of Pacific Asia Museum, Mrs. Adamson was raised in Los Angeles, the daughter of Greek immigrants. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Sofia Adamason

Her husband George Athos Adamson co-founded Adamson University in the Philippines, a leading educational institution for the study of engineering and technology. Sofia followed her husband to the Philippines and joined the faculty of the university in its early days. She served as Adamson’s first dean of the College of Education.

The Adamsons lived through the occupation of the Philippines during World War II. Sofia suffered a serious injury during the liberation of Manila. They returned to the United States and settled in Pasadena, and while George conducted his engineering business, Sofia became very active in the community life of Pasadena and Los Angeles.

Together with Peg Palmer, she helped to open the doors of the museum and supported its programs for more than 35 years. Sofia’s autobiography, Gods, Angels, Pearls & Roses, remains a steady seller in the Museum Store. The book takes the reader from Greece (“Gods”) to Los Angeles (“Angels”), then Manila (“Pearls”), and finally to Pasadena “Roses”). Like the book, her life was a grand adventure. She will be missed.