Elmo "Adrian" Law

January 22, 1940 - August 28, 2020

Elmo “Adrian” Law passed away at home in Kansas City, Missouri, on August 28, 2020. He gifted his body to the University of Kansas Medical School. Adrian was born on January 22, 1940, in Clyde, Kansas; he moved to Kansas City as a child and lived there the rest of his life. Adrian was a life-long learner and educator. He earned three degrees from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in biology and education and taught courses on biology and botany there for more than 35 years. He also taught at Johnson County Community College and in UMKC’s continuing education program, and he served as a science outreach educator in Kansas City public schools. He was an honored veteran of the United States National Guard (1957-1965). Adrian, always a scientist, was incredibly curious about the world; as a world traveller one of his favorite activities was to identify plants and insects while hiking the fields and woods of three continents. He was a philanthropist and politico. He was an avid outdoorsman and birder and always a passionate environmentalist. Adrian was a voracious reader, movie buff, and gardener, as well as an amateur drummer and painter. Adrian was an active member of Shawnee Mission Unitarian Unitarian Church. Adrian married Patricia Joyce Hobson Law, originally of Salina, Kansas, in 1964; they lived most of their 47 years of married life in Overland Park, Kansas. They had one son, Randall David, in 1969, who followed his father into academia (as an historian). They enjoyed a supremely loving marriage, and Adrian served as Patricia’s dedicated and compassionate caregiver during the lengthy illnesses that claimed her life in 2011. Adrian was gifted with an extraordinary second love with Juli Ann Boehm with whom he lived for the last years of his life. He embraced her children and family and loved them deeply. He and Juli Ann travelled extensively. They fulfilled their childhood dreams of going on safari in Tanzania, East Africa; they also visited Mexico, Morocco, Spain, France, Portugal, Scandinavia, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Laos and Cambodia. They also enjoyed traveling and camping throughout the United States in their teardrop camper. Adrian was predeceased by Patricia; his brother-in-law and best friend, David Arnett Hobson; his older brother Merrill and his parents, Roy and Marion Law. Adrian is survived by his son Randall, his daughter-in-law Hannah Wolfson, and two grandchildren, Alexander Ward and Vera Adrian Law, all of Birmingham, Alabama; his niece Kimberly Hobson Piira, of Duvall, Washington; and Juli Ann Boehm of Kansas City, MO; her four children; Kimberly (Derby), Jonathan (Rosalind), Allison (Steve), and Amanda; her grandchildren Alexis(Michael),Lindsey, Lauren (Chris), Josh and her great-grandson Bentley. A private Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Donations can be made in Adrian‘s name to the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org)or the Southern Poverty Law Center (www.donate.splcenter.org).