GERTRUDE L. HEYWARD

GERTRUDE L. HEYWARD of Charleston, SC died May 8, 2014 at the age of 96. She was a licensed funeral director at G. W. Heyward's Mortuary, which was founded by her father in 1924. She assumed ownership of the firm in 1978, and at the time of her passing was the oldest living African-American licensed embalmer in South Carolina. She was a graduate of Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service in Nashville, TN. She was a member of the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, and was the first woman to lead the South Carolina Morticians Association.