Eyes on Albertville and Eyes on Guntersville Welcome Home a Familiar Face: Dr. Alex Honea

For immediate release
August 5, 2026

Contact: Dr. Gussie Branch
Eyes on Albertville
Eyes on Guntersville
eyesonalbertville@gmail.com
(256) 878-3024

Eyes on Albertville and Eyes on Guntersville Welcome Home a Familiar Face: Dr. Alex Honea

Local optometrist returns to the practice where his career began, joining Dr. Gussie Branch and
Dr. Katherine Greer Kennedy’s team of optometrists

ALBERTVILLE, Ala. — Eyes on Albertville and Eyes on Guntersville are proud to announce that
Dr. Alex Honea has joined the team as an optometrist, bringing his career full circle to the office
where his passion for eye care first began.

Dr. Honea was born and raised in Albertville and has been a part of the Eyes on Albertville
family since childhood. He became a patient of Dr. Randall Hoerth at the age of four, growing up
in the very exam chairs he now uses to care for his own patients. That early relationship planted
a seed that would shape the rest of his life.

Amidst attending Marshall Christian Academy and graduating from Albertville High School in
2018, Dr. Honea began shadowing Dr. Hoerth in 2017 and continued shadowing Dr. Gussie
Branch during school breaks throughout his years at Auburn University and the University of
Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Optometry. Along the way, he also worked at Eyes on
Guntersville, where he met his future wife, Lynley, now a mathematics teacher at Albertville
High School.

"Our team of doctors watched Alex grow up right in front of us, from a four-year-old patient of
Dr. Hoerth, to a young man shadowing us on school breaks, to a colleague we are proud to call
one of our own," said Dr. Gussie Branch. "He has always had a heart for this community and a
genuine curiosity about eye care. Having him join our team feels like watching things click into
place."

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Dr. Honea earned his Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences, with a minor in Business,
from Auburn University in 2021, graduating magna cum laude and serving as an active member
of Alpha Epsilon Delta, a national honor society for students pursuing careers in healthcare. He
went on to earn his Doctor of Optometry from UAB School of Optometry in 2026, where he was
a member of Beta Sigma Kappa, the international optometric honor society, throughout all four
years of his education.

His clinical training spans primary eye care, ocular disease, contact lenses, pediatrics, vision
therapy, developmental vision, pediatric neurology, geriatrics, myopia management, and
community eye care, including rotations at the Birmingham VA Medical Center and a family
practice optometry in Oahu, Hawaii. He has also volunteered on mission trips providing eye
care to underserved communities in South Dakota and Alaska.

"Alex has done the work to become an excellent doctor, but what sets him apart is that he
already understands what makes this practice special: taking the time to really know our
patients and their families," said Dr. Katherine Greer Kennedy. "Our patients are going to love
him, because in many ways, he grew up as one of them."

Dr. Honea and his wife, Lynley, are members of Brashers Chapel Church, where he grew up.
He says he is honored to return home to serve the community that helped shape him.

"This practice, this community, it made me who I am," said Dr. Honea. "Getting to give back to
the same families who took a chance on a curious kid means more to me than I can put into
words."

Dr. Honea will see patients at both the Albertville and Guntersville locations, joining Dr. Branch,
Dr. Kennedy, Dr. Graves, and Dr. Boudousquie in providing comprehensive eye care, including
diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases and conditions, pediatric and geriatric eye care,
contact lenses, designer eyewear, and surgical co-management for cataract, retina, and LASIK
procedures.

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About Eyes on Albertville & Eyes on Guntersville: Eyes on Albertville has provided
comprehensive eye care to Albertville and the surrounding communities for more than 50 years.
Dr. Gussie Branch joined founding doctor Dr. Randall Hoerth in 2016, and Dr. Katherine Greer
Kennedy joined the practice in 2018. In 2019, the practice expanded with a second location in
downtown Guntersville, Alabama. The practice performs thorough examinations of the eye and
visual system, using advanced diagnostic technology to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of a
wide array of eye diseases, conditions, and problems.