My birth name is Susan Ballard. I was born in East Tallassee, Alabama to my parents, A.D. and Sarah Ballard. I grew up in East Tallassee and graduated high school from Tallassee High School. I was baptized into the East Tallassee Baptist Church at a young age and I presently belong to the First Baptist Church in Prattville.
I got married in 1974 and had a daughter in 1975. That marriage did not work out, so I divorced in 1979. I married my current husband, George David Davis, in 1980. He worked as an Environmentalist in Chilton County, and I was finishing school at Auburn University at Montgomery. We moved to Prattville from East Tallassee to split the difference in our commutes and have lived there since. In 1983, I had my second child, a son, and in 1988, I had my last child, a daughter. All three of my children went through the Autauga County School System and on to different colleges.
I graduated from Auburn University at Montgomery with a BS in Mathematics/Psychology in December of 1981. I went straight from college to teaching by filling an open position at Autauga Academy from January 1982 until May 1982. In the fall of 1982, I accepted a position in the Montgomery County School System. I taught at Carver Junior High School as a mathematics and computer teacher from 1982 until I was hired to fill an opening in the Autauga County School System in the fall of 1992. I took my 10 years of teaching materials and supplies to Marbury High School. In the Spring of 1993, the school burned down totally and completely, and yes, with my materials in it. I was teaching all the advanced mathematics courses and the first computer class taught in Autauga County. There was only one other mathematics teacher the year I started. As Marbury began to grow, Grades K-6 were moved to Pine Level and our Mathematics Department grew from two to five and I was the Mathematics Department Chairperson from 1992, until I resigned in 2007.
During my tenure at Marbury, I began teaching Adult Education classes at night. Through the state and Auburn University, I began working on my master’s degree in Adult Education and I was then serving as the Administrator of the Adult Education Program in Autauga County. During the day I taught high school and then worked in my Adult Education office in Prattville. My position was dissolved when the program was given to the Family Support program. I received my MEd, AA, and EdD degrees in Adult Education from Auburn University. I was commuting from Marbury after school and working as a Graduate Assistant at Auburn University while in school there. My final degree,EdD, was conferred in 2003. In the summer of 2007, I was recruited to work at the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE). I entered as the Mathematics Specialist in the Curriculum Department. I retired from the ALSDE on November 1, 2015, as the Education Administrator of Curriculum.
As a child, I interacted with many relatives, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, great grandmother, and numerous cousins. I was told many stories about our family, which always left me wanting to hear more. I am sure some of them were tall tales, but my love for my family and our history has always interested me. Upon retirement, one of the first things I did was submit a DNA test through Ancestry and 23&me. I had already begun a family tree with information from my relatives. Once I received my DNA results, the history of our beginnings in this country was in agreement with what I had been told by my relatives. I immediately began entering my information into a tree on Ancestry. I have been amazed with the cousins I never knew existed who are on Ancestry. Through the documents posted on Ancestry, I have been able to trace my family back farther than I ever dreamed I would be able to do. I have found ancestors who have fought in every war that the US has ever been involved in. As my tree goes back, I have found numerous direct ancestors who have fought in these wars.
Besides my passion for filling in my tree, I have also been able to pursue other hobbies. I enjoy making arts and crafts. My mother was in Assisted Living in Montgomery. Once a month I made items for all the residents there. They enjoyed them and that made me enjoy that much more making things for them. For the Baptist Cancer Center in Prattville, I made Cancer Caps for the persons who are going through cancer treatment. For our church, I make Mission Dolls and Pillowcase Dresses that are given out on mission trips throughout the world. I also enjoy making wreaths and decorating my house for the different holidays throughout the year. Now I make a lot of cards. I donate most of them to Cards for Cubs or Cards for Soldiers. I make so many different things that it is hard to say what I enjoy most. I just enjoy making things, and my husband thinks I enjoy keeping Hobby Lobby and Amazon in business.
As far as my concern for the elderly and people with Alzheimer’s, it is personal to me. I watched my mother-in-law slowly die with early onset Alzheimer’s. I know how much it means for them to have needed services. I pray that one day soon, we will have a cure for such a heartless condition.