Continued: A void where there once was a rock to lean on

DORA LAKE, MINN. -- Their love and faith were stronger than their fear.

That's the reason many gave for filling a little country church here to overflowing on Good Friday, to say goodbye to Danny (Barney) Adams Jr., despite the near-certainty that what killed him is contagious.

Adams, 45, died Sunday from complications of what state health officials called an "influenza-like illness." His father, the Rev. Danny Adams Sr., 64, died Wednesday from what appeared to be the same ailment.

Rev. Adams was pastor of Good News Bible Church in Dora Lake, where parishioners held his son's funeral. Hundreds packed the sanctuary and basement and spilled into the parking lot, where they listened to the service on a loudspeaker.

"If it infects me, I'll just join Barney in heaven," said Arnie Peterson of Dora Lake.

Ladonna Adams, 62, Barney's mother and Rev. Adams' wife is in a Duluth hospital fighting what may be the same illness. However, family members said she is improving and is expected to recover.

The state Health Department took the unusual step of announcing the deaths Thursday despite an incomplete investigation, because the deaths were causing alarm in the little community, part of a sparsely populated, forested area in Itasca County in north-central Minnesota.

Officials stressed that the cause of the deaths hasn't been confirmed and there is no reason to panic.

They said that several hundred Minnesotans die of flu complications every year but that the highly contagious illness seldom kills otherwise healthy people.

Several people interviewed in Dora Lake on Friday acknowledged concern for their own health tinged the shock and grief they felt over losing two pillars of the community.

"Sure, it's crossed my mind," parishioner Rod Goble said as he helped set up for a post-funeral luncheon. But Goble said he trusts in a higher power.

"Danny Sr. put his trust in the Lord 39 years ago, and Danny Jr. came out of the womb hearing the Gospel," he said.

It was 39 years ago, Goble said, that a group of local men met evangelist Ralph (Yankee) Arnold while elk hunting in Colorado and were so moved by his message that they invited him to Dora Lake.

Goble said that by the time Arnold left Itasca County, Danny Adams Sr., then 25, Goble and many other residents were transformed by his message of salvation.

Adams, a logger, moved his family to Florida to attend a Bible college, then returned to minister to the people of the area. He, Goble and other loggers cut trees and donated the proceeds to build the Good News Bible Church, overlooking a picturesque lake. He also started Good News Bible Camp and a second Good News church in nearby Cohasset. Both are thriving, friends said.

"This family has been a rock that the community leaned on," said Arnold, who attended the funeral.

Danny Jr., nicknamed Barney by a grandfather, followed in his father's footsteps, both in his faith and in his work as a logger. In 2004 he and his wife, Julie, started a resort, Barney's on the Bowstring, specializing in two of his passions: hunting and fishing. He taught Sunday school at his father's church and cooked at the Bible camp.

Besides his wife, a son, daughter and 3-month-old grandson survive him.

"He was one of the best-liked guys in the whole community," Peterson said. "He was just so amazingly friendly."

The many who wept at his funeral included the Rev. Max Younce of Heritage Baptist Bible Church in Walnut Grove, Minn., who broke down while delivering the eulogy.

"I was very proud of him -- he was like my own son," Younce said from the pulpit. "He was in his element telling stories to everyone he met. ... And he always witnessed for the Lord, Jesus Christ. Barney was never ashamed of that."

Itasca County Coroner Dr. Michael Baich said Thursday that both men could have died from a secondary infection, such as staph. The Minnesota Department of Health, still investigating, has not confirmed whether such infections contributed to the deaths.

On rare occasions, a group of common bacteria called staphylococcus aureus, or staph, can cause sudden organ failure and death. People with flu are particularly susceptible to staph infections because the virus makes the lungs a perfect environment for staph.

Earlier this year a 12-year-old Minneapolis girl died in her bed just a day or two after falling ill with the flu virus. Family members said a staph infection caused her death.

Under the right conditions and in people who are susceptible, the bacteria produce toxins so powerful that a microscopic amount can kill in just hours by overwhelming the body's immune system, said Pat Schlievert, an expert on staph at the University of Minnesota. Not everyone is susceptible, but it would not surprise him if two related people both fell ill to the same infections, he said.

A fund has been set up to aid to the surviving family members. Contributions may be made to the Adams Family Fund, 59794 Dora Lake Road, Northome, MN 56661.

Staff writer Josephine Marcotty contributed to this report. Larry Oakes • 1-218-727-7344