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“I think I have to be weaned from this job slowly or I’ll go into shock,” Adams said. “It’s been a great ride.”

As Adams steps down from her post this month and enters a pseudo-retirement, she will hand the reins over to chamber volunteer Wayne Oehmke. On May 12, Oehmke will step into some new shoes and become the new president of the Sterling Heights Area Chamber of Commerce.

“I will be the person in charge of the day-to-day affairs of the chamber, and the oversight of office and staff,” Oehmke said.

Adams said she’s looking forward to not “having” to do things she doesn’t want to do, like attend 7:30 a.m. meetings, but she will still be available guide Oehmke and to help out where needed.

“Wayne coming in here is wonderful,” Adams said. “I’ve been friends with him since he’s been out here. It’s going to be fun. I’m going to help him out any way I can.”

Oehmke said he knows the shoes he’s filling are mighty big ones, since Adams has been a part of the chamber for so many years.

“Lil is an institution,” Oehmke said. “She is the chamber. She’s been the chamber director for so long and there’s been so much growth during that time. I could never ever replace Lil, but I look forward to doing some good work.”

The best thing Adams said she’s done during her tenure with the chamber is that she hired good people.

“They truly do work,” Adams said. “I come up with sometimes wacky ideas and they carry them out.” A few of Adams’ accomplishments include growing businesses within the area, some of which she said might not have stayed without the chamber’s help. “I had a lot of help with a lot of great people in the community.”

Adams and the chamber met with numerous businesses interested in setting up shop, took them around to possible building sites and introduced them to members of the municipalities’ governments.

“I think we’re responsible for several thousand employees in the area,” Adams said. “And come to think of it, I don’t know any of those that are not still here.”

When she stops working at the chamber full-time, Adams said she will spend more time volunteering. She already actively helps out the March of Dimes and what is now Henry Ford Hospital, and has been a member of the Shelby Township Kiwanis Club. Adams, a Sterling Heights resident, is a member of the city’s Community Foundation board, and the Economic Development, Community Development Block Grant and Brownfield committees. “Those are all things I can continue,” Adams said. “And I’ve been asked to help out a couple of organizations. I’m not one to sit around.”

Because she lives in Sterling Heights, Adams said she is going to check out what the new senior center has to offer her. “Maybe I’ll take a tai chi class or something that looks interesting to me.”

Family is also important to Adams, who has a son and granddaughter who live with her, along with another son, granddaughter and grandson who live is Dallas, Texas.

“That’s my limited family, so we’re very close,” Adams said.

Despite the few blood relations, Adams said she has a larger, surrogate family. “I have such a huge adopted family of staff here,” she said. “I have so many connections in the community. I’m very fortunate. That’s something I treasure.”