Alice Needham Heard

Randolph County - Funeral services for Mrs. Alice Needham Heard, 77, of Randolph County, formerly of Oxford, will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 7, 2012, at K.L. Brown Memory Chapel in Golden Springs with the Reverend Terry Bostick and Pastor Cade Farris officiating. Burial will follow at Midway UMC Cemetery in Wedowee. The family will receive friends from 5-7 this evening at the funeral home. Mrs. Heard passed away on January 4, 2012 at NE Alabama Regional Medical Center in Anniston. A native of Randolph County, Mrs. Heard graduated from Randolph County High in 1952, received her BA in Home Economics from Auburn University and her MA in Education from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. While a student at Auburn, she served as a Summer Baptist Student Missionary on Navajo Indian reservations Arizona. From 1980 until 1996, she enrolled more than 300 students in 4H clubs at Oxford Middle and High School, leading 64 students to district competitions and 25 to state competitions. She is remembered for starting a unique 4-H club, the "Luckies" clown troupe, which performed for nursing home residents, participated in parades, and conducted a seminar for the Alabama 4-H Volunteer Leader Association. Mrs. Heard taught school for 42 years of which she spent 38 years in Oxford. She was the 4-H Volunteer of the Year for Calhoun County from 1984 - 1986. In 2001, she was the Calhoun County Volunteer of the Year. She was selected to the inaugural Alabama 4H Wall of Fame at Auburn University. She was a member of the Oxford Pilot Club, the Retired Educators of Calhoun County, the First Baptist Church of Oxford, Alpha Delta Kappa, and Delta Zeta sorority. Mrs. Heard received a national award from the Freedoms Foundation in 1974 in recognition of her volunteer work and community service. Mrs. Heard seized every opportunity to help those in need, making a significant impact on all those she touched. Mrs. Heard is preceded in death by her husband, Albert Blake Heard Sr.; her parents, Herman and Cora Belle Willoughby Needham; a brother, Charles Clayton Needham; and a granddaughter, Sarah Alice Heard. Mrs. Heard is survived by her sons, Albert Blake "Bud" Heard Jr. and wife, Kimberly Faulk Heard, of Roanoke, Brent Needham Heard and wife, Marian Morrow Heard, of Williamsburg, Va., and Patrick Kyle Heard, of Madison; a sister, Janice Needham Benefield, of Dothan; and grandchildren, Corrie Elizabeth Heard, Albert Blake Heard III, Morrow Anne Heard, Morgan Blake Heard, Houston Benton Heard, Katherine Alysanne Heard, and Fisher Blake Heard; and numerous nieces and nephews. Pallbearers will be Blake Heard, Houston Heard, David Benefield, Aaron Milner, Jason Benefield, John Ashley Milner, and Chip Daniel. Honorary pallbearers will be Mrs. Heard's former students. Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to the Alabama 4-H Club Foundation, 226 Duncan Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849 on online at www.alabama4hfoundation.org/go.php#memorial. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.klbrownmemorychapel.com. K.L. Brown Memory Chapel 620 Golden Springs Road Anniston, AL 36207 (256) 231-2334