Marjorie Dawn Guichard Adams, was born and raised in Oakland, California. After graduating valedictorian from Oakland High, she attended California College of Arts and Crafts (now the California College of the Arts) and the University of California, Berkeley. There, she studied art with a focus on textile design. It was during this time, in the final days of WWII, that she met her future husband, Robert “Bob” Adams, at a USO dance at Oakland’s YWCA.

She spent two years as a textile designer and weaver in the San Francisco studios of noted Bay Area fabric designer Dorothy Liebes. In 1947, she received national recognition for a fabric design submitted to a national competition sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art.

She studied botanical illustration in Denver, creating a commercial line of greeting cards featuring her work. When Bob retired they moved to Portland, Oregon, where her interest in environmental protection led to further education and certification as an Oregon Master Gardener. She died in February of 2015, survived by her husband, three children, and four grandchildren.

Information found on the Berkeley.edu alumni website.