By Rebecca Goodman
Enquirer staff writer

GREEN TOWNSHIP - On a typical Sunday, Adelaide Bellman Badgley wore her green or brown Hamilton County Park District volunteer shirt to Westwood First Presbyterian Church, where she was a deacon charged with counting the offering after services.

"She did that so she could run from one volunteer job to another," her husband, Bob Bellman, said.

Mrs. Badgley - among the first women to receive an MBA from the University of Cincinnati - died Sunday of pancreatitis at Mercy Franciscan Western Hills. The Green Township resident was 70.

"She loved kids," her husband said. "She was very accommodating to children - really treated them with utmost respect."

Although sick for the past 18 months, Mrs. Badgley made sure to spend time with her 10-year-old grandson, Jacob. "A week ago Sunday they were at the air show out at the Blue Ash airport," her husband said. "She went out of her way to expose him to many things. She was that way with all the children around her."

Mrs. Badgley was not only a volunteer for the Hamilton County parks, but she took school children on tours of the Cincinnati Zoo and helped out at the libraries of Covedale Elementary and St. Antoninus School.

"She worked with the kids who came to the Maple Syrup Festival (and) any of these park and zoo programs. She was really there to impart wisdom about nature to these kids. She had an amazing ability to communicate with children - and utmost patience."

A native of Westwood, Mrs. Badgley graduated from Western Hills High School in 1952 and received a bachelor's degree in business administration from UC in 1957.

As an undergraduate, she was a co-op employee of Burke Marketing Research. "She traveled the U.S.A. wearing white gloves and a hat testing new consumer products with housewives in their homes," her husband said.

After graduation, she worked in the library of UC's College of Business. That's where she became reacquainted with Bob Badgley, a friend from high school. She entered the master's of business administration program and received her degree in 1962.

She worked as administrative assistant to the director of UC's Kettering Laboratory until 1966 when she adopted her son. Two years later she adopted her daughter.

In addition to her husband of 42 years, survivors include: her son, Lawrence of Harrison; her daughter, Anne Turner of Westwood; three brothers, Bob Bellman of Horseheads, N.Y., Jim Bellman of Stonelick Township and Bill Bellman of Bright, Ind.; a sister, Lois Duell of Dallas; a grandson; and two step-grandsons.

Visitation is 11 a.m. Saturday, followed by the funeral at 1 p.m. at Westwood First Presbyterian Church, 3011 Harrison Ave. Interment will be at Spring Grove Cemetery.

Memorials: Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, 3400 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH 45220; Hamilton County Park District, 10245 Winton Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45231; Westwood First Presbyterian Church, 3011 Harrison Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45211; or St. Antoninus School Library, 500 Linneman Road, Cincinnati, OH 45238.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com