Adam Levi Pettis PHD

Adam Pettis PhD, 47, Columbus, OH, died on November 29, 2025.

Adam Levi Pettis was born on October 1, 1978, in Eau Claire, WI to Paul and Beverly Pettis. The fourth of six siblings and the only son, Adam was an avid outdoorsman and loved hunting. He played football for Cadott High School and continued to play in college when he went to River Falls, WI. He also studied at Fargo, ND; Minot, ND; Reno, NV; and Columbus, OH, earning an MA in Sociology and a PHD in Rural Sociology.

Adam met Clare (Rintoul) Pettis in college and married her in Minot, ND on August 19, 2000. Their son, Seth, was born on November 17, 2004 in Reno, NV.

Adam was a proud husband and devoted father. When his wife or son showed any interest in anything, Adam was always their biggest supporter and fan, going out of his way to learn as much as possible and assist them. He spent countless hours assisting Seth’s water polo team with everything from equipment management to photography and video editing. He even dedicated himself to unsolicited coaching sessions for every player regardless of their skill level. Adam also started a beekeeping business with his son, Orion Honey, which became his biggest hobby throughout his life while he lived in Ohio. He loved to help others and share his strong convictions, eager to pick up a philosophical argument with anyone who dared to share their thoughts on almost any topic.

Adam can be described by people who knew him as sarcastic, funny, hardworking, extremely extroverted, caring, and devoted to the success of those around him. He was the kind of person who was always there for his family. He never missed any of his son’s ballet performances, swim meets, or water polo games, even if he had to travel a long way to be there. His family knows well that he lived very frugally. He was very reluctant to spend money on anything that wasn’t a necessity, yet he spared no expense when it came to the people he cared about, driving or flying all the way to Connecticut with Clare to see his son play a single water polo game on multiple occasions. He was the kind of guy who was easily excited by simple things. Adam and Seth spent endless hours together keeping bees, chopping wood, fixing things, or walking in the woods. Adam was incredibly task oriented, but his real task of spending quality time with Seth was usually disguised by walking miles through the woods searching for morel mushrooms or shaking papaw trees, oftentimes with nothing to show for it.

No amount of words could ever fully describe who Adam was. He will be remembered in many ways, by so many people who had the pleasure of interacting with him. He was a great friend, great husband, and an exceptional father. A 500-page biography could describe some of his most notable qualities, with many chapters describing how great he was, and at least a handful of pages about the things that made him human and sometimes annoyed the crap out of his wife and son. Maybe a separate novel could be written about how stubborn he was or how worked up he got about the injustices of Ohio drivers on occasion, but it could never stain the way he is remembered. A few words can easily save the effort of writing all that. He was awesome and he was a great man.

Adam will be deeply missed by his wife, son, father, sisters, curated family, and friends. He is preceded in death by his mother.

A Celebration of the Life for Adam Pettis will be held on Saturday December 20th from 2pm to 4pm at Grace Polaris Church Ministry Center, 8225 Worthington Galena Rd. Westerville OH 43081. (the ministry center is on the opposite side of the building from the school entrance).