From boyhood, Roger Adsit was a builder. Back then, his favorite projects were tree houses -- "tree forts," he called them.
"They were amazing," said his younger brother, Danny Adsit of Norcross. "He made them as much as three stories high, with ladders leading from one floor to the next -- so high up the trees I was scared to go up there myself."
Roger Adsit's urge to build was further fired by a trip he took to Europe after high school. There he saw centuries-old churches and public buildings that impressed him with their permanence, a quality he later strove to achieve in his own projects.
He went to work for construction crews and, over time, honed his skills, especially at carpentry, collecting an impressive collection of books on architecture and construction principles along the way and finally becoming an independent builder.
Avery Low of Decatur said he worked with Mr. Adsit for 18 years. "I thought Roger was a master carpenter," he said. "When I told him that, he said no, not really. But I still think he was."
Together, the two of them did custom work on high-end, 10,000- to 12,000-square-foot houses, many of them in Buckhead. They built additions or kitchen cabinetry or special-function rooms such as libraries and wine cellars.
Mr. Low said Mr. Adsit's finished products were works of art. "They'd be perfect -- everything worked," he said. "Roger's motto was ‘do it right the first time, and you don't have to redo it.'"
Of necessity, Mr. Low said, he and Mr. Adsit also did some plumbing, tiling and electrical work. Once, in order to fashion a foundation for a client's hot tub in a hard-to-reach spot on his property, the two of them had to hand-mix 67 bags of concrete in an afternoon -- a challenge for a couple of 50-year-olds. "We slept well that night," he said.
Mr. Adsit was a joker, Mr. Low said, and occasionally played pranks on members of his crew to break the monotony of the workday. "Once, one of our crew brought his dog to the work site, and Roger sneaked a hot dog into the guy's tool belt, and the dog wouldn't leave him alone for the rest of the day. We all got a kick out of that," Mr. Low said.
John Pettiss [cq] of Dunwoody, a client, recalled that Mr. Adsit got him and his wife out of a tight spot 10 years ago.
"We had hired another contractor to put an addition on our house, and the work dragged on and on until finally we fired him," Mr. Pettiss said. "We asked Roger to complete the job according to the previous builder's specifications, and he did so very professionally -- expanding the kitchen, adding a new bedroom, an adjoining bathroom and a den. Later, he came back and installed windows in the new bedroom to provide a view of the garden outside -- a fine job overall.
"And the estimate Roger gave us came out right to the penny," he added.
"Roger was skilled beyond belief," said Kathy Lee of Atlanta, a family friend for whom Mr. Adsit did several home renovation projects. "He treated his craft as he treated people -- with integrity and respect."
John Roger Adsit, 57, died March 24 at his Atlanta home of cancer complications. His memorial service is 2 p.m. today [Saturday, April 9] at H.M. Patterson & Son, Oglethorpe Hill. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his memory to PAWS Atlanta, 5287 Covington Highway, Decatur, Ga., 30035.
Mr. Adsit spared no effort in renovating his own home in the Toco Hills neighborhood -- cabinets of all kinds, new crown molding, new bathrooms, new wood-shingle siding, all done himself.
Karen Adsit said her husband also was the cook in their house. "Roger would spend all day fixing a gumbo. He was good at all kinds of Italian dishes and at grilling meats and seafood, and he baked delicious pies and cakes."
He had a soft spot for his dogs and cats and would add bits of meat, poultry or fish to their animal chow. Occasionally, he selected a special cut from the meat case, even a steak, for his pets, she said.
Other survivors are his mother, Lainoumel Adsit of Tucker; and another brother, the Rev. John Richard Adsit of Baltimore.
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