Alma Bernice Clark Gravely is the youngest of five children born to Samuel H. and Millie V. Nichols Clark. She was born in 1921 in Christiansburg, Virginia, and continued to live there until her graduation from high school from the Christiansburg Industrial Institute in 1939. Alma went on to further her education at Virginia State College, receiving her Bachelors of Science in Home Economics in 1944. After graduation she began teaching Home Economics in Blackstone, Virginia.

On February 12, 1946, she married Ensign Samuel L. Gravely Jr., U.S. Navy Reserves. She continued to work, taking a job as an Agriculture Extension Agent with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service in Southampton County for five years. During her husband’s career, which spanned more than 40 years, Alma traveled extensively from coast-to-coast and around the world.
Alma has been an active member of every community that she has lived. She is a member of Olive Branch Baptist Church in Haymarket, Virginia, serving as the Chairperson of the Flower Committee. She has also been a member of the Prince William County Cooperative Extension Advisory Board; an Election Official in Prince William County and was a member of the Prince William Committee of 100.

Alma is the mother of three children, two of whom are deceased. Her daughter Tracey and daughter-in-law Beverly also reside in Northern Virginia. Her hobbies include fishing, gardening, flower arranging, sewing and traveling. She has been an active member of bowling leagues on the East and West Coasts of the United States since 1962. Mrs. Gravely recently celebrated her 93rd birthday at a party with GRAVELY crew members in attendance. She attended the command's Change of Command ceremony on December 19, 2014.