Perry Walter Bartsch, Sr.

Asheville ~ Perry Walter Bartsch, Sr., 79, passed on to join the saints triumphant Saturday, November 26, 2005 at his home after a long and courageous fight against Parkinson’s. Perry was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 30, 1926 and, after his graduation from Walnut Hills High School, served in World War II in the US Navy Air Corp as a navigator. After his military service, he graduated from Harvard College, Harvard Business School and NYU Law School. His business career began in finance in New York City with JP Morgan and Westvaco Corporation. In 1959, he began his twenty-six year career with Champion International and retired as Vice-President, General Manager in 1985. From 1985 on, he participated in ownership and management of several businesses in Asheville, including: Perry Bartsch Associates, SDX Corporation, A&B Construction, Industrial Sheet Metal, Westall-Chandley Lumber and Brevard Lumber. He enjoyed both his business relationships and his responsibilities as a conscientious employer. He found great meaning as a member and elder of First Presbyterian Church. He enjoyed his time as member and past president of the Harvard Club and the Pen and Plate Club. He supported several community based organizations, including: the Urban Trail, Mission Hospital Foundation, Community Foundation, Asheville Symphony and others. In life everlasting, Perry joins his wife of forty-eight years, Betty Lou Elliott Bartsch, his mother Beatrice Thomas Perry Bartsch and his father Edward Holmes Bartsch. He is survived by his son Perry W. Bartsch Jr. and wife Joanne of Asheville, his daughter Anne Bartsch Bonner and her husband Jeremy of Asheville, and his daughter Jane Bartsch Wall and her husband Charles of Greenville, S.C. Dad especially loved and took delight in all seven of his grandchildren: Christan Bartsch, Sarah Bonner, Andrew Wall, Perry Bartsch, III, Elizabeth Wall, Emily Bonner and Katherine Wall. A memorial service will be held Saturday, December 3, 2005 at 2:00 PM at First Presbyterian Church, 40 Church Street, Asheville, North Carolina. Internment will be held Sunday, December 4, 2005 at Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to any of the following; First Presbyterian Church Building Fund, Mountain Area Hospice, the Parkinson’s Foundation or the Betty Bartsch Kitchen Fund at First Presbyterian. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25)