Carol Sue Leopard

by Lynn McMillen
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Carol Sue Leopard, 85, of Jasper, passed away on Monday, February 3, 2025, at her residence. Family will be receiving friends on Thursday, February 6, 2025, from 5:30 until 6 p.m. at Kilgore-Green Funeral Home. Service will follow at 6 p.m. in the Kilgore-Green Chaple. A graveside service will be held on Friday, February 7, 2025, at 1 p.m., at Parkdale Methodist Church Cemetery. Bro. David Byrd will officiate.

Carl “Sue” Ashworth was born to William Penton, a produce seller, and Ava Lorraine Price Ashworth in Coosa County in December 1939. Though the Ashworths were neither formally educated nor wealthy, they worked hard to provide for themselves and their four children: Betty, Sue, Mary, and Billy. Sue was baptized in Hatchet Creek and attended Mount Olive Baptist Church in her youth. As a girl, Sue distinguished herself as a smart, determined student, graduating top of her class at Goodwater High School. Inspired by her own parents’ grit and strength of will, Sue moved alone to Alexander City after graduation and lived in a boarding house while looking for work. Despite being only 5’ tall, Sue landed a job there as a telephone operator.

In 1960, she met William Reid Adair at a Revival at Mount Olive Baptist Church, and the two married later that year. Together, the young couple moved to Tuscaloosa, where their only son, William Reid Adair Jr., was born in September 1961. In her 36 years with the telephone company, Sue achieved success while also moving from Tuscaloosa to Selma, Birmingham, Sheffield, and eventually Decatur. While working as her son’s primary caretaker and earning her business certificate at night, Sue also elevated herself at work through sheer force of will—climbing her way up from being the shortest telephone operator on staff to a high-earning manager at the company. Sue was a unique woman, undaunted by the difficulties she faced working in “a man’s world.” She was a champion for the rights of working men and women and served proudly as a union representative for Communication Workers of America.

Like many people, Sue endured tragedies in her life. In 1981, Sue’s first husband and Bill’s father, William Adair, was murdered. The loss was hard on Sue and Bill, the couple’s only child. Sue lived for a time in Florence with her second husband, Charles “Buddy” Leopard, but ultimately, she chose to spend her later years in Jasper with her son and his children. Sue enjoyed attending Sunday School at Northside Baptist Church in Jasper, and she was a longtime member at Gold’s Gym on Airport Rd. However, Sue most enjoyed sharing veggie pizzas and sipping ice-cold Coca-Colas poolside with her granddaughters. She enjoyed games and music and was never too busy to play Dominos with Liz or sing commercial jingles with Ashley. Sue was as generous with her things as she was with her time, and she lovingly gave her youngest granddaughter, Mary, many of the dolls and toys she’d spent years collecting.

Sue suffered from Alzheimer’s for many years, and during that time, she was cared for by many wonderful sitters, including Kim Smith, Barbara Loyed, Crystal Bland, Kathy Rock, Kristy Akers, Emily Peterson, Naquita Gibson, Betty Griffin, Candace Nichols, Renea Cain Goetzmann, Visting Angels, and many others. Sue was preceded in death by her husbands: Bill Adair Sr., and Buddy Leopard; parents, William Penton and Ava Lorraine Price Ashworth; sister, Betty Ashworth; brother, Billy Ashworth; grandparents, Reuben Price, Elizabeth Jane Price, John Ashworth, and Mary Ellen Lackey; and in-laws, Ron Padgett. She will be remembered by her son Bill Adair and his wife, Stephanie, as well as their three daughters, Sue’s grandchildren: Liz Adair Kaiser (Elliot), Ashley Adair, and Mary Adair. She is also survived by her younger sister, Mary Robertson, and her three great-grandchildren: Charlotte, William, and Arthur Kaiser.

To those who knew and loved her best, Sue will be remembered in death as she was in life— as a driven individual who worked hard and demanded excellence from herself and others. Sue was an enterprising employee, organized homemaker, kind friend, caring mother, and doting grandmother, who gave the best gifts and made the best rum cake. She will be missed.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Walker County or Northside Baptist Church.

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