[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 45 (Thursday, March 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S3149]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 A TRIBUTE TO GERTRUDE MALLARD PRITCHER

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I would like to take this opportunity to 
wish a very happy birthday to Gertrude Mallard Pritcher of St. George, 
SC. Mrs. Pritcher will turn 100 years old on April 13.
  The 11th of 12 children, Gertrude Pritcher was born in Colleton 
County in 1896 to John Behlin and Annie Eliza Liston Hucks. In the 
history of her life, one can trace the history of the South Carolina 
Lowcountry. She grew up in Smoaks, where she taught school in a one-
room schoolhouse, and Sunday school at a Methodist Church. Throughout 
the 1930s,'40s and '50s, she lived in Beaufort County where she was 
active in home demonstration clubs, specializing in gardening, cooking 
and sewing. A member of Daughters of the American Revolution, Mrs. 
Pritcher has three daughters and one son by her first husband, William 
Daniel Mallard of Summerville. They were married for almost 50 years, 
until his death in 1965. Mrs. Pritcher married Asbury Pritcher of 
Beaufort County in 1972 who has also passed away.
  Like a true Southerner, she has a love of and flair for storytelling. 
With her knowledge of the counties of South Carolina, and with all the 
family and friends she has, you can bet she has some good ones to tell. 
She enjoyed a healthy and active life for 85 years, until a stroke in 
1981. The condition curtailed her activity somewhat, but she continues 
to live comfortably in St. George where her children and grandchildren 
enjoy her company, and her tales. Let's all hope that we can have as 
rich a life.

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