She was born in Diamond and moved to Guntersville when she was in the 3rd grade. They later moved to Blountsville. She finished high school there, then finished college at Jacksonville. After teaching 3 years at Cross Roads, she came to Guntersville Elementary in 1934. She taught there every year except for 6 years when her daughter Jean Ann was small.
October 1, 1936 Opal was elected secretary of the City school PTA
After her marriage in 1939, the following fall Opal taught 3rd grade at the City School
She directed "Pawnship Granny" a one act play for the Town Theatre group in Guntersville.
Nov 9, 1950 Opal held a dinner at her home to re-organize a Marshall County Council of Federated Clubs. Opal was appointed county chairman by the state federation in 1949.
BS degree from Jacksonville State Teachers College, Jacksonville, Alabama. 1952
April 13, 1960 Opal, Martha Nell, Mrs. Stanley Wicker and Mrs. John Bostwick were giving a panel discussion on school problems, "Youth - Our Needs in the Community", to civic clubs for a program. It because so popular that WGSV, the Guntersville radio station broadcast it.
1963 Gray Lady at the Guntersville Hospital. A funny story was told about her in the Advertiser Gleam. One of the duties of the Gray Ladies was to keep visitors off the second floor except during visiting hours. One day Opal had stopped a good size group of people around the elevator waiting until visiting hours. Dr. Veazey came up and was trying to enter the elevator and Opal grabbed him by the coattails. When she finished telling one of the visitors they had to wait she turned to him and asked if he had a wife on the second floor. His wife was pregnant at the time and his response was, "I hope not!". By this time a couple of nurses were laughing because they realized that Opal did not know he was a doctor. After he was identified she let him go up. He praised her for doing a good job of keeping people who were not authorized off the second floor.
Chairman of Art-on-the Lake 1965
At the time she retired from teaching she had taught for 34 years longer than any other teacher in the Guntersville system. She was honored on Arbor Day with the planting of a 15-foot rep maple tree on the Elementary School playground which was the old high school football field now used by the school bus shop. She taught all except the first 3 years or her teaching career at Guntersville Elementary.
1977 treasurer of the Marshall County Retired Teachers Association
1980 President of the Lake Guntersville Homemakers
1981, 1986 secretary of the Guntersville Garden Club
