Meet Wyoma Newman! Wyoma has been an educator in Hall County for her entire career. She spent 40 years teaching at Gainesville High School before retiring and now she teaches part time at Lakeview Academy.

“Actually, I am retired from the city, I taught at Gainesville High School for 32 years and then I worked part time eight years there and then I retired in 2015,” she said. “I was approached about helping out with the Learning Supports program at Lakeview…that’s been a fun way to segway into full retirement.”

Over the years, Wyoma has taught English, AP Lit, ESOL and was the department chair.

“This is the English teacher speaking but it (my favorite) book has to be ‘The Great Gatsby,'” she said. “It’s just so beautifully written. I can teach it over and over again and never get tired of it.”
 
Wyoma grew up in Baxley, a small town in South Georgia, but has lived in Gainesville for 44 years. She is married to Ray, who has been involved in the Gainesville insurance business for many years, and the couple has one son, Charlie, 28.  “Charlie is married to Haley and they have two sons; Tucker, 4 and Tanner, 2 and they are the love of my life,” she said.
 

We want to thank Wyoma for spending a few moments with us recently, telling us about her life and love of Hall County.
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Question: What led you to your current career?
Answer: “I love young people and I love to write and I love literature and just the whole process of how literature teaches us so much about human nature and more about who we are.”

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County?
A: “That’s a hard one; Poor Richard’s is a perennial favorite. I always get the salmon or the fish of the day and I love the crab claws. I also love 2 Dog’s Sunday brunch.”

Q: Who is the most interesting person you have met in Hall County?
A: “Woodrow Stewart, he was an attorney here with Stewart, Melvin and Frost. He was actually our son’s god father. The thing about Woody was he was so involved in so many things. If you needed anything done in Hall County he would get it done, he was an avid golfer, loved to travel, love wine and he was responsible for a lot of the development at the hospital. There is a wing named for him there. He was a philanthropist and has so many interesting experiences not just with law.”

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?
A: “I would love to see some of the cities in Italy where my dad was a soldier in WWII. Like Naples, Anzio, I know it’s not in Italy but Normandy. Just to retrace where all the battles were because growing up he told me the stories and I just didn’t appreciate it then. Today, I wish I had taped them all.”

Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: I want to travel more, I’ve always wanted to see New Zealand. I also want to learn something new but I’m not sure what that is yet.”

Q: What former local business makes you feel nostalgic about Hall County?
A: “The Cake Box, always because of those bars that were made out of honey, oatmeal and raisins. Coming down Thompson Bridge Road you always had to stop by The Cake Box and get some cookies.”

Q: Choosing anyone alive and not a relative, who would you like to have lunch with and where would you go?
A: “I think I would like to talk to Mother Teresa just because I always wondered how she had such a loving heart and how she was able to love so many people who may not be lovable. How do you have that much generosity and grace for everyone?”

Q: What is your favorite thing about Hall County?
A: “The people because I go to First Baptist, belong to a Sunday School class, work at Lakeview and have a been around–I cannot believe how generous people are here…there are so many agencies to help people.”

Q: What three words mean “Home” to you?
A: “Small town, love, warmth–the things that remind me of my parents. I would love to be at their house and sitting on the porch with them again. We still have the farm in Baxley and the old home place is still there but the image is so different than the reality. There wasn’t much shopping…I mean we were 10 miles out in the country.”

The Faces of Hall County is a project to showcase the amazing people that live in our community. If you would like to nominate an interesting person to be featured please email babernathy@gonorton.com.