Yaroslavna Nelly Adams, 48, passed away peacefully on December 20, 2019, at Swedish Medical Center,
Seattle, WA, nearly reaching the winter solstice. She started her journey on the spring equinox, March 21, 1971, in Novosibirsk, Russia. Her parents flew home, eight-plus months pregnant with her from Potsdam, East Germany so that she could be born on the home soil of Mother Russia.
Yaroslavna requested no obituary but wanted her legacy to be told by those that knew her and loved her. This version was acceptable to her. Yaroslavna was unique, complex, compassionate, loving and so very creative; thus, her life can’t be captured so simply.
She first came to Bainbridge in 1989 through a Russian/US theatre exchange. Her Novosibirsk Children’s Theatre, ‘Smile’ and Bainbridge’s ‘Greasepaint’ performed the collaborative “Lullaby for Tomorrow,” co-written for this groundbreaking tour throughout the USSR and Seattle, San Francisco and the final highlight performance in the US at the Wolf Trap Festival near Washington, D.C.
Yaroslavna met her husband, Todd Harmon Adams, in 1990 and after living in Seattle and Boston, returned in 1997 to make Bainbridge her permanent home. Together, they raised a family which she always put foremost in her life. She also nurtured an entire local and far-reaching community that will forever be changed having been graced by Yaroslavna.
Gaining citizenship in 2003, Yaroslavna was honored to be a first-generation immigrant. She was first a Russian but became a proud American and fiercely embraced all the benefits that our free society offered her and certainly she ran with those opportunities.
Yaroslavna is survived by her husband of 25 years this December 27th, Todd Harmon Adams, son Quincy Harmon, daughter Nora Lucia and parents Nelli Morozova and Sergey Udalov, all of Bainbridge Island.
Other relatives and friends that became family are too numerous to mention. We would like to thank her providers at Swedish Cancer Institute that cared for her these past twenty months and her Hospice team. Also greatly appreciated is our dental office and the Y-Team, all that helped our family negotiate this time with love, generosity and most importantly, normalcy.
Two of her many favorite expressions were: “Love is Everywhere,” and “Love is worth the cost, whatever
you must pay.”
She wanted the holidays to be happy and magical for everyone, as it was her favorite time of year.
Donations may be made in her name to Island Volunteer Caregivers, The Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Schools Foundation or any of the many local charities you knew she supported and loved.
A Celebration of Yaroslavna’s life will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2020 at 7pm at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art located at 550 Winslow Way E, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.
