LOUISE HERMANAIL SPENCER GATEWOOD
was born to Herman and Willie B. Spencer (Grant) on August 15, 1920, in Eudora, Arkansas. She was reared by her parents and grandmother, and moved to Little Rock to attend and graduate from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. At the age of 20, she married George Washington Gatewood and moved to Annapolis, Maryland, and, then, New York City. In New York, she was a faithful member of Church of the Master Presbyterian Church, under the pastorate of the late Reverend Eugene Callender. She joined the maritime union, and was a member of Alpha Chapter #1 of the Order of the Eastern Star of New York. She also marched with the late Adam Clayton Powell Jr., in civil rights marches for employment opportunities for African Americans. Her husband joined the United States Navy, and she worked as a switchboard operator for the United States Merchant Marines on the cruise ship United States Constitution. Louise owned an alteration shop, where she also designed clothes for performers at the Apollo Theater. She later returned to Little Rock, and worked at Kempner’s, Dillard’s and as a campus supervisor at Horace Mann Junior High School. She retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs. She reunited with and served faithfully at Allison Memorial Presbyterian Church. Louise spent the last three years of her life residing at the Robinson Nursing Home and rehabilitation Center in North Little Rock, where she transcended on June 18, 2020, to live eternally in her heavenly home with the Lord.
She leaves to cherish her memory her sister, Jean Schur, and godsons, Keith and Lamont (Monty) Holliday of Caram, New York; members of the Spencer family, namely, Beverly King, Harriet Spencer, Patricia A. Harris; James and Leana Spencer, and Esther Spencer, all of Warren, Ohio; members of the Starks family of Columbus, Ohio; her cousin, Linda Gayfield, and Grant family members of Eudora; DeVault family members of Detroit; and her goddaughters, Gale and Faye Washington of St. Louis. Her memory is cherished, also, by her best friend of 43 years, William ( Frank) Lasker, devoted friends, Kathy Williams and Reverend Marion Humphrey, all of Little Rock, and Elizabeth Marshall of Chicago.
Walk thru visitation Thursday, June 25, 2020, 1-5 p.m. at the funeral home. Graveside services will be held Friday, June 26 at 3 p.m. at Pinecrest Memorial Park, 7401 Highway 5 North, Alexander. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to Allison Memorial Presbyterian Church, 922 Wright Avenue, Little Rock, Ark. 72206, for the Louise H.S. Gatewood Scholarship Fund, supporting young African American students for the study of family life and consumer sciences. Services entrusted to Premier Funeral Home, 1518 S. Battery St., Little Rock, Arkansas 72202.