She attended high school in Prairie Grove and graduated high school in LaPorte, Texas.
She and her husband Pat had 4 children: Tom, Bill, Judy and Kimball, six grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
She received a BA Degree from the University of Arkansas in 1976. In 1980 she received a PhD in Zoology with a minor in foreign languages.
She taught at the Flaming Rainbow University in Stilwell and at the Northwest Arkansas Community College, teaching Anatomy and Physiology to nursing students. She was also employed by Tyson Foods and taught Spanish to non-Spanish speaking employees.