Tell us a little about yourself
I am a retired teacher and counselor. I was born in LaGrange and graduated from LaGrange High School. Unfortunately I have no siblings. I have been married to Nick Woodson for sixty-four years. We have three children. They have blessed us with eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
I love flowers and spend most of my day in the yard caring for the flowers.
I belong to First Baptist Church and teach a Sunday School class of older ladies. I do volunteer counseling and have an office in the church office building where I see clients of all ages and needs.
I love to hike in the mountains. I ride a bicycle made especially for my short legs and has only one gear—mine!
Please tell us a little bit about your family
Nick, my husband, is retired. He was employed with Georgia Power for about eight years, and we moved around to various towns in Georgia. In 1969 we returned to LaGrange when he joined my father to own and operate a distributorship for gas and fuel oil, serving retailer for thirty-eight years. He is a deacon for First Baptist Church and served on the LaGrange City Council for twenty years.
We have one son, Chris. He owns and operates his own saw mill. His wife, Phyllis, is an engineer with Interface Flooring. They have two boys—Daniel, who is a freshman at Kennesaw State University, and Sawyer, who is a junior at Heard County High School and is very active in the high school band.
Allison Strickland is our oldest daughter. She is a nurse practitioner at Main Street Gamily and Urgent Care in Lanett; her husband, Nate, is employed with Kimberly Clark. Allison’s oldest son, Josh Webb, manages a trophy shop in Kennesaw. Her daughter, Kendall, will complete her nursing degree in December. She is married to Cody Anderson, who is employed with Fokker Aeronautics. They have our two great grandchildren, Carter and Ellie. Allison’s youngest son is Payton Barr. He and his wife, Brandy, enjoy hunting and sports events. He is a welder and has worked in the US, Canada, and Mexico and loves it.
LeAnn Squier is our youngest daughter. She and her husband, Chris, live in Charlotte North Carolina and have three boys—Eli, who graduated from North Carolina State University and is employed with the U.S. Defense Department; Woody, who is a Cadet at West Point Military Academy; and Sam, who is a freshman at North Carolina State University.
LeAnn has enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom and has been a very active supporter at the boys’ schools, including volunteer coaching for the soccer team and cross country coach. Chris is the senior vice president for Corporate Real Estate of Truist Bank.
Please tell us about your current, past, or future career. What do you love most about what you do?
I taught school for forty years. I began in 1964 at Albany High School in Albany, Georgia and taught biology and geometry. I became a stay- at-home-mom after my son, Chris was born in 1971, when he was entering first grade. I enrolled him in LaGrange Academy and began a half-day teaching job there teaching geometry. algebra and trigonometry.
When LeAnn entered kindergarten, I began teaching full time and wound up being the whole high school math department. I loved it because I taught every high school student every math class, and they became like a part of my family. When I left LaGrange Academy twenty one years later, it was a very traumatic because it was like losing part of my family.
Meanwhile, I had gotten my second master’s degree in counseling and became a state certified counselor. After leaving the academy, I went to Gardener Newman Middle School as a counselor, and loved it. I retired fourteen years later.
I had worked, after school hours, as a mental health and substance abuse psychologist at West Georgia Hospital. I continued this job after retiring from school. (West Georgia Hospital had contracted with Pathways, Anchor Hospital, and Willowbrooke for this service; and I had been employed with each of them.) When Willowbrooke decided to use telecommunication later, I did not want to assess the patient in this manner. ( I want to see my patient to observe body language, voice inflections, etc.). So I began doing all of the face-to-face assessments. When Covid came, I was not allowed to go into the hospital. So my hospital service was ended, and I really miss it. I love being able to help people who are having difficulties.
I now continue to do volunteer counseling.
What advice would you give to people?
Make sure your relationship with God is good. He has a perfect will for each of us, and we need to daily seek HIs guidance to keep ourselves in His plan for us.
Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
I hope to be alive and able to continue the things I am doing.
What are a couple of your favorite restaurants in our community?
Venucci’s, Long Horns, Jim Bob’s ( the young people there are amazing, to be able to carry out an adult job so well.), Sakura Sushi & Grill.
How long have you lived or worked in our community?
I was born in LaGrange in 1942 and lived here until 1964 when Nick began working in other communities in Georgia where Georgia Power Company placed him. We came back to LaGrange in 1969 and have lived here since that time.
Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?
Georgia Clark Hendricks ( Now deceased )
What current or former local business makes you the most nostalgic about your community?
The City Pool, which was where Sweetland is now. I learned to swim there, got my Red Cross swimming instructor badge there, and worked there as a life guard and swimming instructor for three summers.
What is your favorite thing or something unique about our community?
I feel it is a safe community where I feel free to approach others for help and advice and can trust those with whom I do business.
If you could choose anyone that is alive today and not a relative; with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would y’all meet for lunch?
There are four people ( Gay Jackson Henry, Barbara Chambers Ford, Katie Shearer Schane, and Anna Smith Payne.) We have been friends since kindergarten. WE meet every fall for four days. We find a place where we can all stay, eat, and talk non-stop. It would be nice to meet a Dowell’s Knob- a place we all liked as teenagers.
What is one of you favorite movies? TV shows?
“Gone with the Wind”, “Song of the South”, and “Magnificent Obsession”
“Columbo”, “Forensic Files”, ‘Oxygen”, and “Dr. Pol”
Even for friends or family – what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
Nick and I married when I was seventeen. We did not tell anyone until fifteen months later. Then, many people, including my parents, felt it would not last and that my education was ended. But “we fooled them”—I graduated from LaGrange High School with the highest grades, completed LaGrange College as the top honor graduate, achieved two masters’ degrees; and we have three wonderful children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Nick has loved me and always given moral support. We met in the high school band, and we are still “playing together”. We are in the First Baptist Church Orchestra and the LaGrange Community Bank. He plays the tuba and I play the clarinet.
What would you rate a 10 out of 10?
Our marriage and love for each other.
Who inspires you to be better?
Miller Huckaby in no longer living, but he was a fantastic youth director at First Baptist Church when I was a teenager. His high standards encouraged me to do my best. Also Georgia Clark Hendricks was my fifth grade teacher, and she encouraged me to seek the best.
Finally, what 3 words or phrases some to mind when you think of the word HOME?
Love, Freedom, Protection
