| Graduation Year | Faculty |
| Date of Passing | May 20, 2010 |
| About | WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Sally Ann Alvarez Watts, 62, died of respiratory failure as a result of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in her home in Woodbridge, Virginia, with her family by her side. Mrs. Watts was a high school teacher for 38 1/2 years, 23 being at Garfield High School in Dale City, Virginia. Her teaching career spanned five separate decades beginning in 1969. She taught Spanish, but also taught French and English at points in her career. Teaching was her calling, as she wanted to pursue a career in teaching from the time she was seven years old. She took great pride in teaching children and helping shape their lives. She was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Clarksburg, West Virginia and was raised in her beloved town of Spelter, West Virginia. She was a 1965 graduate of Victory High School in Clarksburg, West Virginia. She then graduated from Fairmont State College in Fairmont, West Virginia, in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in English and French and completed graduate coursework at West Virginia University. While teaching in Jacksonville, Florida, she met her husband, Franklin Watts, who was stationed there in the U.S. Navy. The couple was married in Jacksonville in 1976 and subsequently lived in Greensboro, North Carolina and Scotch Plains, New Jersey before ultimately settling in Woodbridge in 1985. Mrs. Watts held a love of travel, the performing arts, and, most importantly, her family. She was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church in Dale City, Virginia. She was a donor to and member of The Smithsonian Institution, The Colonial Williamsburg Fund, and The Friends of Mount Vernon. She is survived by her husband Franklin, a retired FBI Agent, as well as her son Gregory, a lawyer, of Woodbridge, and her brother George Alvarez, a retired physical therapist, of Banning, California. |
