Community gathers to remember Hatoon
Marcus Larson | Freelance photographer
Left to right: Students Emily Lann, Ruby Brunk and Erin Dougherty console each other while listening to speeches at Hatoon Victoria
Adkins' memorial service on Saturday. Brunk, an employee of the University Bookstore, said she often visited with Adkins.
Marcus Larson j Freelance photographer
Poppe, an acquaintance of Hatoon Victoria Adkins, bows his head in a moment of silence during Adkins’ memorial service outside the
Knight Library on Saturday. Adkins, 67, died at Sacred Heart Medical Center from injuries sustained after she was struck by a motorist March 1.
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The Saturday memorial commemorated a woman
who "lived life her own way" and lived happily
BYAYISHAYAHYA
NEWS EDITOR
She will be remembered for her
entrancing stories. Her bursts of
humor. Her bright lipstick.
She will also be remembered for her
caring nature. The insights she brought
to those whose paths she crossed. Her
intellectual spark and the many lives
she touched over the years because
she lived her life just as she wanted.
Students, faculty and community
gathered on a sunny winter afternoon
to pay tribute to Hatoon Victoria Ad
kins. Adkins, a long time resident at
the campus, was killed on Thesday as
she was crossing Franklin Boulevard
on her bicycle. Most recently, Adkins,
67, had made her home on a bench
just outside the University Bookstore,
where she covered her things with a
blue tarp. In the days since her demise,
Adkins’ bench has evolved into a
shrine with flowers, candles and tubes
of lipstick, which she loved.
Eugene Police Officer Randy Ellis,
who knew Adkins for many years, said
she taught people everything from
tolerance to vulnerability to caring.
“We learned that we’re not invinci
ble,” Ellis said, adding that the impact
Adkins had on those who knew her
was evident from the outpouring of
love since her death.
“We wanted what was best for Ha
toon, but only Hatoon knew what that
really was,” Ellis said.
Ellis said Adkins, who was known
for her many diverse stories, taught
people to listen.
“Listening is something that few of
us really know how to do,” Ellis said.
Ellis said Adkins’ life was not
a failure.
“She lived life her own way,”
he said.
Adkins suffered from mental illness
— those who knew her described her
as drifting in and out of lucidity. Ellis
said Adkins made her own choices
and was able to surround herself with
a family of friends. She did not consid
er herself homeless or mentally ill, Ellis
said; she had a home right there
outside the bookstore.
“We should not allow her life or her
memory to be devalued by these
meaningless labels,” Ellis said.
Before Adkins’ death, Ellis had been
talking with the University to try and
arrange a trailer for Adkins to live in.
And over the years, many different
people had taken her into their homes
for short periods of time.
University Bookstore General Man
ager Jim Williams also knew Adkins
for many years, saying she was a
“good neighbor” — she often helped
the bookstore staff take out the trash
each morning.
He described her as a magnificent,
if somewhat complex woman.
“Hatoon was not really homeless...
she just chose not to live cooped up in
side a building,” he said.
Adkins was not a regular face just
at the bookstore. She was often seen
at the Knight Library, and she once
lived outside it. Many also crossed
paths with her at the Student Recre
ation Center where she was a regu
lar patron. Those who worked out
with her or saw her exercising
remember her strength — one man
said she could easily “outpress
15 frat boys any day.”
“She was my role model for work
ing out,” Tevina Benedict, who helped
organize the memorial, said. “We all
need to keep out bodies strong. ”
“That chick was buff,” said Profes
sor Emeritus of English Ed Coleman,
who knew Adkins for 30 years.
Adkins was also a regular visitor
at Blue Heron Bicycles on 13th Av
enue, where she became close
friends with Kerri Vanden Berg.
Vanden Berg said Adkins was quite
conscious of people’s belief or dis
belief in the things she said. After
many long conversations with her
throughout the years, she said Ad
kins “began to make perfect sense.”
“So many times, you put my own
life into perspective,” she said at the
memorial service. “I missed you
today, I’ll miss you tomorrow. I
am blessed.”
Many others recalled Adkins’ con
cern for them. She would ask about
their health or about their children,
tell them how nice they looked, share
her thoughts and opinions.
Adkins was born April 30, 1937,
to parents of Armenian descent. She
is survived by a sister, son, daugh
ter and granddaughter. In a letter,
read by Williams, the family mem
bers expressed how much they
would miss her.
“Never one to hold back opinion,
Hatoon encouraged open hearts and
open minds,” the letter said.
Referencing Robert Frost’s poem “A
Road Not Taken,” Ellis said Adkins had
taken the path less traveled and all
people should try to do the same.
“Decide to be happy; make others
happy,” he said. “Do not wait for a
better world; make a better world. ”
ayishayahya® dailyemerald, com
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