Dorothy “Dottie” Francis Sullivan was born on August 27, 1939, in Gallatin, Tennessee. Her father was Francis Edwin Sullivan, for whom she was named, and her mother was Amelia Whiteside Sullivan. Dottie moved to Carrollton, Georgia, when she was 13 years old and entered Carrollton High School, graduating in 1957. At Carrollton High, she was a cheerleader, played on the girls’ basketball team for four years, and was very involved in additional extracurricular activities including Beta Club, the Glee Club, and the yearbook. She attended Girls’ State, served as secretary of the senior class, was sweetheart of the “C” Club, received the DAR award, and was Homecoming Queen and also Miss Carrollton High School.

In 1957, Dottie entered West Georgia College where she was also very involved in sports and extracurricular activities. She was captain of the cheerleading squad, a Junior Class officer, active in the Women’s Athletic Association, Captain of the Soccer All-Star Team, Sweetheart of the Veterans Club, Sweetheart of the Men’s Dorm, Valentine Queen, May Queen, on the Homecoming Court, listed in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, and received a scholarship to attend an aquatic school in Brevard, North Carolina. She graduated in 1961 with a degree in elementary education and began a seventeen-year teaching career in the Carrollton City School System.

Also, in 1961, she married William Grady Hamrick, Jr., a graduate of Georgia Tech, who later served as District Attorney for the Coweta Circuit. The Hamricks had four sons, William “Bill” Grady Hamrick, III, who was elected to the Georgia State Senate and later became a judge; Thomas “Bo” Ramsey Hamrick, who went into business; Andrew Sullivan Hamrick, who became a U.S. State Department official; and James Harrison Hamrick, who obtained a law degree. The Hamricks have five grandchildren.