From a Republican family--her father was the chairman of the Amelia County Republican Party--she attended Longwood College and the pharmacy school of the Medical College of Virginia before returning to Amelia and opening a pharmacy.
From a Republican family--her father was the chairman of the Amelia County Republican Party--she attended Longwood College, graduating with a degree in English and Communications and a minor in business in 1947. She then attended the pharmacy school of the Medical College of Virginia before returning to Amelia and opening a pharmacy.