Anna Bell Walters Gatch

Entered into eternal rest on the evening of September 13, 2010, Anna Bell Walters Gatch, widow of Charles Edward Gatch, Sr.  Residence, Charleston, SC.  The relatives and friends are invited to attend her funeral services Friday, September 17, 2010 at 10:00 am in North Charleston United Methodist Church. Interment, Carolina Memorial Park.  Friends may call at J. HENRY STUHR, NORTH AREA CHAPEL Thursday between 6 and 8 pm.

Mrs. Gatch was born January 7, 1916 in St. George, SC, the daughter of Charles T. Walters and Mary Julia McAlhaney Walters.

Mrs. Gatch began working at Lourie's Department Store in St. George as a teenager and developed into a business woman under the mentorship of Ann Lourie. She opened her first Ann's Shop in St. George in 1944, then moved her store to Reynolds Avenue in Charleston Heights in 1949. Over the next 45 years, she changed the name to Ann's Vogue and opened three more women's ready to wear stores in the Charleston and North Charleston Area.  During the years, she gave many teenage girls opportunities to work in the stores, and to model clothing for advertisements on WCSC television in Charleston.

She was a member of the North Charleston United Methodist Church since 1949.  During those years she sang in the church choir, taught Sunday school to teenagers, and was treasurer of the church.

While her children were in the public schools, she volunteered in the PTA and served as its president. She was a past president of the Charleston Business and Professional Women's Club and helped in the community by serving on the board of the North Charleston Cultural Arts Association.

She is survived by two sons: Charles E. Gatch, Jr. and his wife Dolores Bull of Lexington, SC and William Donald (Donnie) Gatch of Charleston, SC; 7 grandchildren: Mike Gatch (Mary Clare) of Huntersville, NC, Jerry Gatch (Sidney)of Lexington, SC, Vicky Gatch Jackson (Boyd) of Lexington, SC, Don Gatch (Nikki) of LaQuinta, CA, Kim Gatch Watson (John) of Alexandria, VA, Kathy Gatch Wilks (Matt) of Charleston, SC, and Jenny Gatch of Mt. Pleasant, SC and 12 great grandchildren. She is predeceased by two brothers: Eddie Tilman Walters and Charles Winston Walters.

In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made to North Charleston United Methodist Church, 1125 East Montague Avenue, North Charleston, SC 29405.