05/12/2026
As we share Adrianne and Bobby's arrangements, please take a few minutes to read these beautiful words about Adrianne (and Bobby) written by our Executive Director...
At City Mission we are reeling over the recent loss of a beloved long-time staff member: Adrianne Wilson. Adrianne worked at City Mission for over 24 years. She was wife of 60 years to her husband Bobby who over the past year or so was failing and in poor health. She was a loving mother, and grandmother, faithful church member. Above all, Adrianne was a strong believer in Jesus Christ. Her faith informed everything she did.
Adrianne embodied all that City Mission is, what we hope to be, and much more. Because of that, I would like to share a little about her life and work. Our name – City Mission Living Stones, Inc. comes from a verse in 1 Peter 2:5 “You also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house.” Adrianne was not just a living stone; she was a spiritual giant – a pillar in our organization and in this community. She was fearless, tenacious, feisty, stubborn, kind, encouraging, dedicated, steady, and compassionate. You could always count on Adrianne! She gave sacrificially until her last breath.
At City Mission we have a grant called PATH (Programs that Assist with the Transition from Homelessness) This grant provides funding to serve some very challenging individuals—clients struggling with chronic and serious mental illness and substance use issues. In most cases, these are people that others have given up on, some of whom have burned every bridge, some with serious criminal history, who have lost everything and who are now homeless. Adrianne was our PATH case manager. She handled these challenging cases with the perfect combination of a firm hand along with compassion, faith and kindness. Her clients counted on her, respected her, and knew that in Adrianne they would find encouragement, a listening ear, a helping hand, and a faithful confidant. She counseled them, connected them with treatment, helped them find employment, located stable housing for them, took them shopping to purchase what they needed, helped them move into housing, tirelessly advocating for her clients with area landlords as well as advocating for leniency for them before Fayette County judges.
Adrianne also served at the county jail, going in to minister to the women every month. She sang in her church choir. For as long as I can remember, she worked with the ER nurses at Uniontown Hospital to provide gifts for each child in our emergency shelter program at Christmas. Working with volunteers, she made sure each child had a new backpack full of school supplies at the start of each school year. She and her husband Bobby led the Tuesday night City Mission Bible study together for the last 20 some years. She was tireless in serving God and others above herself.
This past Thursday, despite her husband being on hospice and at the end of his life, Adrianne came to work—she was taking a client shopping. I saw her in the office and asked how her husband was, she teared up—telling me how hard it was to see him in this state—wasting away with disease. We hugged.
The last words I said to her were— “Adrianne—this world is not our home.” She said, “I know.” Later that afternoon, she suffered a heart attack and passed away. Her husband Bobby passed just a few hours later.
How beautiful, yet how bittersweet. It is so fitting that these two who were so connected in this life, in God’s plan left this earth almost at the same time.
Adrianne’s life is challenges us to live out our faith more intentionally. We have lost not only a respected colleague, but a dear friend, a mentor, and a faithful fellow believer. So I go back to our verse: “You also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house.” How can we become living stones? How can we build spiritual houses?”
Proverbs 24:3-4 says, “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.”
Godly wisdom or “wisdom from above,” is not gained by relying on man’s intellect, feelings, or interpretation of events. It is the ability to perceive and discern life and events as God sees them. How can we gain wisdom?—by being in the Word of God and in prayer--by walking with Him. Adrianne knew this. She walked with God, she feared Him, and because of this she was full of wisdom.
Understanding is more than the mental grasp of facts, ideas, or skills. Godly understanding is the ability to think, to reason, and to judge clearly and to respond with insight. This requires sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and prayer. Understanding recognizes that each person is uniquely created with gifts and flaws, precious in the sight of God and full of hope and possibility. Adrianne was able to see beyond the person in front of her to the soul behind the person. She saw beyond addiction, beyond anger and mental confusion and loved each person as Jesus would have loved them.
Knowledge is learning through experience. True knowledge begins with humility and reverence toward God; it involves discerning truth and applying it to life. Adrianne was a person who matured in knowledge of God and his word, and she brought that knowledge to bear in how she dealt with those around her.
Because Bobby and Adrianne built their house with godly wisdom, knowledge and understanding, their lives reflected the beautiful treasures described in Proverb 24. Adrianne and Bobby weren’t rich in the eyes of the world; they suffered many heartaches in this life, but through faithful dependence on the Lord they have reaped the beautiful reward of a legacy of service, godly character, deep relationships, the fruit of the spirit, and eternal life.
At City Mission, we recognize that God has gifted us all differently. We will never be able to replace Adrianne, but with God’s help, one day at a time, and with much prayer we will continue to strive to carry forward her and Bobby’s legacy.
Please remember Adrianne and Bobby’s children and grandchildren in your prayers. They have lost both mom and dad, and grandma and grandpap. Pray for City Mission as we continue our mission of serving the poor and homeless without our beloved Miss Adrianne. Pray for us as we work to become “living stones” in our community…. seeking His wisdom, knowledge and understanding; and together with all God’s people, building that spiritual house right here in Fayette County.
