Adele Fuchs was born in 1862 to Dr. John and Mathilde Fuchs in Madison, Wisconsin. She was the youngest of five children. Fuchs’ parents immigrated to the United States in 1851 and both came from affluent families in Germany. Dr. John Fuchs was a professor at the University of Wisconsin at the time of Adele Fuchs’ birth, and was later a doctor and surgeon in Chicago. When Fuchs was twelve, her mother was placed in a sanitorium in Madison for severe depression. In 1876, when Fuchs was fourteen years old, her mother committed suicide. Her father passed away suddenly a year later in 1877. Fuchs then lived with the Hipman Family in Chicago until she graduated from high school in 1879. Following her high school graduation, Fuchs moved to Sioux City, Iowa to live with her two older brothers, Albert and Wilhelm Fuchs.

Shortly after moving to Sioux City, Fuchs began her teaching career and taught at multiple country schools in the surrounding area of Sioux City. In 1885, Fuchs journeyed to Europe with her friend, Lib Perkins, to study music and traveled from July of 1885 to August of 1887. Once she returned from Europe, Fuchs continued teaching in Sioux City and taught German at the high school level. Fuchs was accredited for starting the German program in the Sioux City school system. In 1889, Fuchs joined the Unitarian Church that Mary A. Safford founded in Sioux City and became very active in not only the church, but also in Safford’s community of female liberal ministers and their fight for women’s suffrage. Safford and Fuchs grew a very close bond during this time that would last for decades, and Safford moved in with Fuchs and Perkins in 1891.

In 1893, Fuchs began attending medical school in Iowa City and graduated from the State University of Iowa Medical School, now referred to as the University of Iowa, in 1897. Fuchs practiced medicine in Iowa City following graduation until January of 1899 when she traveled to Germany with her friend, Mabel Ruddell. After returning to home from Europe in December of 1899, Fuchs practiced medicine in Sioux City until 1902 when she moved to Des Moines to practice medicine with Dr. Edith Losines. Fuchs also relocated to Des Moines to be rejoined with Safford and Perkins who had moved to Des Moines to start another church while Fuchs was in Europe. In 1904, Fuchs began practicing medicine and teaching at the same time, and in 1905, Fuchs stopped practicing medicine to become a full-time German teacher in Des Moines.

Fuchs left for Germany in June of 1915 until March of 1916 where she cared for her mentally ill cousin and witnessed the strain that World War I placed on the German people. Her position as a teacher in the Des Moines school system was threatened due to her ties to Germany, which led her to leave Germany early. Following her return, Fuchs was faced with anti-German sentiments. She was ostracized from a large portion of her friend group for the remainder of the war. Fuchs continued to teach German in Des Moines throughout the war and continued to be involved in the Iowa Women’s Suffrage Movement and Safford’s churches. From the years 1919 to 1934, Fuchs constantly traveled around Florida, California, Illinois, the New England area, and Germany. Safford was repeatedly ill throughout the 1920s and Fuchs often cared for her until Safford passed away in 1927 in Orlando, Florida. Fuchs passed away in 1955 in Orlando, Florida.