Annie Murl Welch Gonzales

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song I will praise him." Psalm 28:7. Annie Murl Gonzales, 91, passed away peacefully at home Tuesday, May 1, 2012. Born Dec. 11, 1920, to Lawrence Thomas and Sadie Wright Welch in West Feliciana Parish. She was valedictorian at McKowen High School. She earned a BA in education and a master's in library science from LSU. She taught at Brookhaven High School in Mississippi for four years and became librarian at St. Francisville High School, from which she retired in 1980. She loved gardening, reading, and her family. She is survived by a son, Frank "Mitch" and wife Susan Gonzales; grandchildren, Robert Lawrence Gonzales Jr., Michelle and husband Kyle Jeansonne, and Kristen Anne Gonzales; great-grandchildren, Melissa Annie Gonzales and Colin Joseph Jeansonne; brother-in-law, Joe Drury; nephew, Tom Scartacini, of Tuscon, Ariz.; cousins, Mary Louise Bankston, of Jackson, Morris Welch, of Baton Rouge, and Laurel Anne Steele, of Signal Mountain, Tenn.; and friend, Gloria Rogers. Preceded in death by her husband, Robert L. Gonzales; parents, Lawrence and Sadie Welch; son, Robert Lawrence Gonzales Sr.; granddaughter, Christine Marie Gonzales; sisters, Lawrence Janet Welch Drury and Mary Katherine Welch; and aunt, Minnie Murl Wright. Special thanks to St. Joseph's Hospice, Dr. Laura Falcon, and Dr. Andrew Rees. Visitation will be Friday, May 4, from 9 a.m. until religious services at 11:30 a.m. in the chapel of Rabenhorst Funeral Home East, 11000 Florida Blvd. Interment in the family cemetery in West Feliciana Parish. In lieu of flowers, please make memorial donations to St. Joseph Hospice.