Barbara Sue "Barb" Gratsch

Barbara Sue “Barb” Gratsch , 73, of Givens Estates, died Saturday, December 15, 2018 at the Memorial Campus of Mission Hospitals. A native of Flint, MI, she was a daughter of the late Cliff and Louise Peirson Gratsch. Barb was a classroom teacher at several elementary schools in Coral Springs, FL where she started the Multi-Age classroom programs. She was a curriculum consultant for the Early Childhood Department in the Broward School district and wrote the curriculum for the Broward County Summer School Programs for grades K-2. Retiring to Johnson County, TN, Barb was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Mountain City. She was a masterful quilter and was a member of the First Sunrise Quilt Guild. She founded the visiting Author/Illustrator Program for children in Johnson County which each year allowed all students and teachers to meet and learn about these artists. This program became a part of the Imagination Library, a project that provides free books to all children age’s birth through five. Barb was the chairperson of the Imagination Library and under her direction, the program flourished. She was a member of the Friends of the Library and she was the instructor for the Preschool Summer Reading Program at the library until she moved. Barb volunteered at two local elementary schools in Johnson County, Doe Elementary and Laurel Elementary. Barb is survived by one sister, Elizabeth Lee Waller of Asheville, NC and one brother, Thomas “Tom” Joseph Gratsch of Walloon Lake, MI. A service celebrating Barb’s life will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, January 5, 2019 in the Norma Pulliam Chapel of Givens Estates in Asheville. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made in Barb’s memory to either the Johnson County Library, 219 N. Church Street, Mountain City, TN 37683 or Heritage Hall Theatre, P.O. Box 86, Mountain City, TN 37683. Groce Funeral Home in Arden, NC is assisting the family.