Annie Watts Gregory

IRMO - Annie Watts Gregory, age 86, died April 18, 2017. A worship service celebrating her life will be held at 11:00 a.m., Friday, April 21, 2017, at Temples Halloran Funeral Home Chapel, 5400 Bush River Rd., Columbia, SC 29212. Burial will follow in Bush River Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends 1 hr. prior to the service at the funeral home. Born July 5, 1930, in Morven, North Carolina, she was one of five children of the late George Raymond Watts and Ina Gaddy Watts. She graduated with a BA from Western Carolina where she was valedictorian, Who's Who in American Universities and Colleges, National Honor Society, Science Club President, Woman's House Government President, BTU President, BSU Council President, and voted Best All-Around and Best College Citizen; and where she met her future husband and love of her life, Robert Emmett Gregory. Later, she received her MS in Biology from The University of South Carolina. She has spent her life devoted to the world of education, teaching students physics, chemistry, life science, and biology at University High, Irmo Middle School, and Irmo High School. She was a member of the United States Teaching Profession and the South Carolina Science Teachers Association. She served on the State Film Selection Committee, the Educational Television Evaluation Committee for Life Science, and was a district representative to the Environmental Education Planning Conference. Annie Gregory was the Richland-Lexington District Five Teacher of the Year reciprocate several times. She was married to Robert Emmett Gregory over 62 years. He proceeded her in death. Annie had an unwavering faith in the Lord and was a long-time member of Park Street Baptist Church of Columbia, SC, and later a member of Riverland Hills Baptist Church of Irmo, SC. She had a great love for her family, church, gardening, and education but her greatest love of all, besides her husband, was her three children, five grandchildren, andseven great grandchildren, as well as her former students. Her family would like to thank her long-time doctors: Dr. Rosalie Browning and her staff at Three Rivers Medical Assoc., Dr. Michael Roberts and his staff at Lexington Cardiology, and Cassondra Carter and her staff at Laurel Crest Assisted Living. Surviving are her three children, Miriam Gregory Bare (Joe) of Monroe, NC, James Emmett Gregory (Chrissie) of Easley, SC, and Janice Gregory Beatson (Brian) of Irmo, SC; her seven grandchildren, James Bare (Jenny) and Gregory Bare (Amanda), Ashley, Rebecca, and Elizabeth Gregory, Jordan and Lauren Beatson; and five great-grandchildren, Luke, Hamilton, and Haven Bare, Jesse and Dawson Bare. She was preceded in death by her siblings, Lennox Watts, Hubert Watts, Vernon Watts, and Vivian Watts Griggs. Be still and know that I am a God. Psalm 46:10 In lieu of flowers, Memorials can be made to ETV Endowment in care of NatureNotes with Rudy Mancke at 1041 George Rogers Blvd., Columbia, SC 29201