Alice Dennard Ammons died January 2, 2024. She was 95.
Alice was born in Shreveport, Lousiana, on December 12, 1928, and grew up in McComb, Mississippi. She was the youngest of Frederick E. and Urla Dennard’s four daughters and was predeceased by her parents and her beloved sisters. While shy as a child and a young woman, Alice grew up to become a force in everything she did. She graduated from Millsaps College in 1950, obtaining a degree in sociology because she was concerned about the plight of poor black people in the South. She had a job offer in Louisiana after graduation where she would have to paddle a pirogue through the bayous to visit her clients. Instead, she married the love of her life and husband of 69 years, Clarke Ammons. Together, the two had four children, and lived a life full of love, fiery arguments, and jitterbug dancing to Big Band music in the living room.
Alice was a volunteer extraordinaire, serving long hours at her children’s schools, with the Friends of the Library, and with Habitat for Humanity. Together, she and Clarke helped found the Habitat chapter in Pike County, after moving back to McComb following Clarke’s retirement. She worked tirelessly to garner support for the chapter’s work in providing homes for families, while Clarke led the building efforts.
Alice was incessantly curious. She was a voracious reader and regularly quoted from “Alice in Wonderland” and Shakespeare, including favorite lines from “King Lear” and “MacBeth.”
Beyond her innate intellect, Alice also was a fantastic gardener, a skilled seamstress, and she could knit, crochet, and do handwork beautifully. She was also an excellent quilter.
She and Clarke loved to travel and visited national parks and historical sites all over the country. Their final big trip was to drive across the country to see the Grand Canyon and to Colorado when Clarke was 88 and Alice was 83. Together, they were indominable.
Alice was preceded in death by her husband, by whom she will be buried. She is survived by her children, Lanny Clarke Ammons, David Edwin Ammons, Patricia Elizabeth Ammons (Lee Roop), and Susan Ada Ammons (Donald Dresser), as well as a grandson, Justin Ammons, granddaughters Jessica Hrenyk (Chae), Katherine Pitts (Jason), Charlotte Olsen (Bryan), and Alicia Benson (Bennett), and seven great-grandchildren.
The family thanks Kate Huston and the staff of Loving Spaces for taking such good care of their mother and grandmother over the past 15 months.
A private graveside service will be held Friday, Jan. 5, at Maple Hill Cemetery. The family requests no flowers. Memorial donations may be made in Alice’s honor to Habitat for Humanity.
