Words by Jenny Lynn Davis | Images by Al Blanton
Carol Duncan’s five-decade career with Northwest Alabama Mental Health Center began in a rather unlikely place: a tent at the county fair.
She accompanied her aunt to the fair hoping to find a volunteer opportunity that might keep her entertained. While visiting a booth, the two struck up a conversation with a woman named Pam McCullough, who was looking for someone who could type.
Carol’s aunt couldn’t type, but Carol could. She volunteered to help for a few days, unknowingly setting in motion a career that would span approximately 50 years.
“Pam would tell people, ‘I met her in a tent at the county fair,'” Duncan recalled with a laugh during a recent celebration of her retirement. “You can imagine what people thought!”
That chance encounter began a remarkable tenure in which Duncan witnessed decades of growth and change at Northwest, served in numerous capacities, and became a trusted source of knowledge, encouragement, and friendship for generations of employees.
Her early responsibilities included part-time typing work and service at one of the center’s first residential group homes in downtown Jasper. When Northwest’s residential services were still developing, Duncan’s duties ranged from purchasing groceries and helping clients shop for clothing to cleaning and managing the facility’s daily needs.
“She did everything,” recalled former Northwest Executive Director Skip Newman, who spoke at her retirement celebration.
Over the years, Duncan also worked as an outpatient secretary and receptionist before moving into administration, where her responsibilities included human resources and serving as secretary to the center’s board.
Newman recalled that, at one point, Duncan helped manage personnel responsibilities for an organization with a couple hundred employees, long before modern technology streamlined many of those tasks.
“Some people are just made for a position,” he said. “I’m so proud of the years Carol and I spent working together.”
Throughout her career, Duncan witnessed the center grow from its early days of developing residential programs into a much larger organization. By her own estimate, she served under eight different directors.
But it was never simply the work itself that kept her there.
“I’ve seen a lot of people come through the center whose lives have been changed,” Duncan said. “Some still tell me occasionally, ‘Thank goodness y’all were there when I went through that trauma or crisis.’ I think it takes special people to become invested in our clients.”
She also credits the people she worked alongside and the organization’s support of her own family for making Northwest a place she wanted to remain.
While raising her children, Duncan appreciated the flexibility to balance her responsibilities at work and at home, particularly when her husband worked out of town.
“The center is a good place to work, or I wouldn’t have stayed around,” she said. “There were a lot of benefits, and I’ve appreciated being part of this center.”
For her colleagues, however, Duncan’s impact extends far beyond the positions she held or the responsibilities she managed.
At her retirement celebration, coworkers and longtime friends shared memories of a woman whose steady presence, gracious demeanor, and seemingly endless institutional knowledge had made her indispensable.
Northwest’s Executive Director, April Knight, recalled the reassurance of having Duncan nearby during board meetings, particularly when questions arose about proper procedures.
“She’s forgotten more about Robert’s Rules than the rest of us will probably ever know,” Knight said. “I always know we’re in good hands when she’s around.”
But Knight was equally appreciative of Duncan’s ability to offer guidance in matters that had little to do with policies and procedures.
“She gives tactful, diplomatic, helpful advice. She makes us feel heard and listened to,” Knight said. “I’ve never, in all the years I’ve been here, heard her say, ‘I really don’t have time for you.’ She genuinely cares about people, whether they’re staff or clients.”
Others echoed that sentiment, having come to rely on Duncan over the years.
Jasper City Schools Superintendent Ann Jackson, who previously worked at Northwest, remembered Duncan as her first mentor at the center, helping her navigate unfamiliar responsibilities when she was new to the organization.
“She held my hand because I didn’t know what I was doing,” Jackson recalled.
Johnny Sudberry, who now serves as executive director of the Walker County Children’s Advocacy Center but previously worked at the center for nearly 26 years, said Duncan’s professionalism and kindness are what he remembers most.
“What I remember most about you is your graciousness,” he told her. “You always handled things so graciously and professionally.”
Kevin Black, Northwest’s Director of Maintenance, Security and Transportation, who has worked alongside Duncan for 14 years, described her as “the encyclopedia of the mental health center.”
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without Carol,” he said.
Pollyanna Higgs, Northwest’s Clinical Director of Mental Illness and Children Services, noted that a familiar refrain could be heard multiple times a day in Northwest’s administration building whenever an employee encountered a question they couldn’t answer: “I don’t know—ask Carol!”
The question now, she joked, is what everyone would do without her.
Amid the heartfelt tributes, there was plenty of laughter, too. Former coworkers traded stories about the center’s early years, old community outreach campaigns, and the many personalities Duncan had encountered throughout her career.
For Newman, one of Duncan’s most memorable qualities was her genuine interest in the people around her. She knew employees’ families, remembered their children and birthdays, and always seemed to have something kind to say.
“Her love for the center supersedes anything,” he said. “She put her heart and soul into this organization.”
Duncan, for her part, seemed more interested in recognizing the people and mission that had given her career meaning than in receiving recognition herself.
“I’ve been around quite a while, but it’s been wonderful to see how the center has grown and to see all the good people who have worked here through so many improvements,” she said.
As she prepares for life beyond the administration office, Duncan is looking forward to at least one simple pleasure: no longer having to wake up early for work.
Still, she acknowledged that leaving behind the people who have been part of her daily life for so long will be bittersweet.
“I love you all. You’re just like family,” she told those gathered for her celebration. “I hope you’ll stay around and keep taking care of our clients long after I’m gone.”
When asked what wisdom she would leave with colleagues continuing the work she devoted so much of her life to, Duncan offered advice that reflected the very qualities for which she had been celebrated.
“Do the best you can to make somebody’s life a little better.”
After 50 years at Northwest Alabama Mental Health Center, Duncan has spent a lifetime putting that philosophy into practice. WL
