Helen Childress Gatch, 93, of Columbia, died peacefully, Thursday, December 10, 2015. Born in Six Mile, SC on January 30, 1922, she was a daughter of the late Frank Bruce Childress and Flora Ellen Bennette Childress. Mrs. Gatch graduated from Central Wesleyan University and did her Post Graduate Studies at USC. She was a civil service employee at Parris Island, and taught in public and private schools for 28 years. Mrs. Gatch was a member of Eau Claire Baptist Church where she taught the Love Sunday School Class for more than 50 years. She was the Chairperson for the Benevolent Committee and also served as Chairperson for the Metro Food Bank. She spent many hours making costumes for the Columbia College Drama Club and was extensively skilled as a quilt maker. Mrs. Gatch loved genealogy and wrote many books for her family. She was recently working on a book about her life that will soon be published.

Survivors include her daughter, Helen "Mickie" Gatch Cato of Mauldin; a son, Wendel Holmes Gatch and his wife, Frances Marie Gatch, of Lafayette, LA; sisters, Ethel Earline C. Sublette of Fort Lauderdale, FL, Rachel Evangeline C. Hollifield of Marion, SC; brother, Frank Bruce Childress of Piedmont, SC; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren. In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husband, John Matthew Gatch; a son, John Madison Gatch; sisters, Margaret Leola C. Franklin, Emma Monelle C. Pittman; brother, Charles Edward Childress; and great-grandchild, Madison Rose Tyler.

A funeral service will be held 2 o'clock, Saturday, December 12th at Eau Claire Baptist Church with The Rev. James A. Goudelock officiating. Interment will follow in Greenlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends prior to the service beginning at 1 o'clock. Memorials may be made to Eau Claire Baptist Church, 4427 North Main Street, Columbia, SC 29203 or to New Southern Wesleyan University, PO Box 1020, Central South Carolina, 29630-1020.