Inventor Richard Adams, 76, Dies

Richard C. Adams, inventor of the paint roller, has died at Grossmont Hospital after suffering a stroke while listening to the death-scene aria of a favorite opera, his family said. He was 76.

A memorial service is scheduled for today.

Adams was stricken at his home March 5 while listening to a recording of Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde” with his wife, Mary.

The opera was a favorite of the couple and a love song from the piece had been played at their wedding nearly 52 years ago.

Adams, a descendant of the presidential Adams family, produced the first paint roller in a basement workshop in 1940. He was part of the marketing department at Sherwin-Williams when he invented and patented the gadget that has since become standard equipment for painters.

Adams had a wide-ranging career that included experience as an engineer, a developer, a banker and a cowboy in Arizona.

A native of Cleveland and a graduate of Yale University, Adams settled in San Diego after World War II and became a patron of the arts. He was a trustee of the San Diego Museum of Art and later was president of the Old Globe Theatre.