The Foundation Board of Wallace Community College Selma presented a resolution commendation Jean Sullivan, a founding member of the board, which was established in March 1990.

The title Foundation Board Member Emeritus was bestowed upon her in the presence of

board members, WCCS officials and members of Mrs. Sullivan’s family.

Prior to the presentation by Board President Catesby ap R. Jones, WCCS President Dr. James Mitchell spoke briefly of her love for Selma, her national political prominence in the Republican Party and her abiding support for her hometown.

“She was born in the Selma of other days and other ways and grew up in what is now Old Town Historic District,” Mitchell said.

It was a neighborhood of families, with children who played beneath the shading oak trees, skated on the sidewalks, rode bicycles to Kenan’s Mill in the summertime, walked to school at Dallas Academy, and to the Walton and Wilby every time the “picture show” changed. And every Sunday the children attended Sunday school at one of the downtown churches.

It was a time and a place when children were taught respect for their parents, their elders and for each other.

It was a time when patriotism was more than a word and love of country sincerely felt. These are the factors that molded Jean Sample Sullivan into the woman who has devoted her life to the support and promotion of Selma.

She was one of the three daughters of Arthur Sample, a respected law enforcement officer from whom she learned her enduring respect for law and order, a respect that has prevailed through her political career and her devotion to civic service.

An ardent Republican, who served as Alabama’s Republican National Committeewoman for 20 years, she has been befriended by the political leaders of America: Nancy and Ronald Reagan, Barbara and George Bush, Laura and George W. Bush are among those

she knows intimately.

However, her national prominence has never interfered with her regard for her hometown and her love of her family, for whom she refused the opportunity to occupy a prestigious position in the federal government. Her husband Ira Sullivan, her five children and nine grandchildren occupy top priority in her life.

Jean Sullivan’s gifts bestowed upon Selma are many and lasting, each submitted quietly throughout the years. Foremost among them is that of founding member of the Wallace Community College Foundation Board, which was established in March 1990.

Let it always be said of Jean Sample Sullivan:

Indeed, she has made a difference.