Gilda Drew Mather

Gilda (Ann) Drew Mather was born in Mullins, SC, on Friday, May 10th, 1946, to Louise (Drew) Shaw and Samuel Drew. She spent her childhood in Marion, SC, where her sister, Kathy, and her brother, Richard, were born. In 1956, Gilda moved with her family to Houma, Louisiana, where the family lived until moving back to South Carolina in 1961. In 1964, Gilda graduated from Myrtle Beach High School.

After high school, Gilda planned to move to New York City to pursue an acting career, but decided to study acting at Winthrop University instead. After a semester at Winthrop, Gilda attended airline school in Kansas City, Missouri, and lived for a short time in Washington, D.C., taking part in the United States Navy’s Secretarial Training Program.

After moving back to Myrtle Beach, Gilda stayed active in the theater, and landed the lead role in a production of Picnic in 1967. Her co-lead was a dashing recent graduate of the Citadel military college, and the two of them married that same year on August 12. After several heartbreaking miscarriages, Gilda and Phil had a son, Phillip Drew Mather, in October 1970, and a daughter, Heather Melissa Mather, in January 1973.

Gilda loved being a mother, and worked various jobs in sales and secretarial work to allow her a more flexible schedule. In 1986, she began working with her brother at Myrtle Beach Heating and Cooling (which later became One Hour Heating and Cooling), retiring from her job there in 2011.

Gilda and Phil raised their children in Georgetown, SC, Hampton, VA (for 1 year), and Myrtle Beach, SC. Both Drew and Melissa graduated from Socastee High School. While her children were in their school-age years, Gilda continued to stay active in the theater, taking leading roles in various community theater productions, sometimes with her young son and daughter also in the cast.

In 1988, Drew moved away to attend Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and in 1990, Melissa moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to attend the University of Virginia. Gilda continued to enjoy caring for young children, and began helping her niece, Candace Lauretano, by caring for Candi’s daughter, Roux. Roux spent many days with “Grandma Gilda”, and Roux’s name for her, “Gigi”, was one of her favorites. Gilda also spent time with her nephew, Richie Drew’s children (Kennedy, Richie III, Christopher, and Caroline) and her niece, Meredith Drew Redd’s children (Sarah Blake and Jase), and her nephew, Nic Lauretano’s children (Sybastian and Luna).

In September 2006, Gilda and Phil were blessed with the first of four grandchildren, Miles Lincoln Fritzmather, who was born to Gilda’s daughter, Melissa, and husband Erich Fritz, in Chicago, Illinois. Shortly after discovering the joy of being grandparents, however, Phil received a terrible diagnosis of mesothelioma, a lethal cancer. In August 2007, Gilda and Phil celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, and then on February 17, 2008, Phil passed away, with Gilda by his side,

In 2009, Gilda became a grandparent for the second and third time, with the birth of Melissa’s second child, Reese Emerson Fritzmather, in Austin, Texas,, and Drew and wife, Chihiro Koshimizu Mather, their first, Matthew Sawyer Koshimizu Mather, in Rock Springs, Wyoming. In December 2013, Gilda welcomed her fourth grandchild, Adele Marie Fritzmather, in Austin, Texas.

In 2016, Gilda made the difficult decision to wrap up her affairs in Myrtle Beach and move to Austin, Texas, to be closer to her daughter and her family. Gilda always considered South Carolina her home, but she made many friends in Austin, and still found ways to participate in plays and other performances at Wildflower Terrace, the senior living community where she lived. She also sang in the choir at Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin. Gilda loved spending time with her grandchildren, and shared many dinners and game nights with Miles, Reese and Adele in Austin, often stepping in to care for them and their pets when needed. Most weekends, Gilda would spend hours on a video call with her grandson Matthew, listening to him play piano, and following along with whatever he was doing.

Gilda passed away peacefully in her sleep on November 14, 2024, at the age of 78, after a long battle with heart disease. She is predeceased by her mother and father, and her husband, Phil.

She is survived by her son, Drew Mather, and his wife, Chihiro Koshimizu Mather, of La Selva Beach, California; her daughter, Melissa Mather, and her husband, Erich Fritz, of Austin, Texas; her four grandchildren, Miles, Reese, Matthew, and Adele; her brother, Richard Drew of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; her sister, Kathy Drew Thompson of Georgetown, South Carolina; and numerous extended family members and friends who will cherish her memory.

A memorial service will be held in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at 5 p.m. at Wildflower Terrace, 3801 Berkman Dr., Austin, TX 78723. Gilda’s funeral services in Myrtle Beach will be held at the McMillan Small Funeral Home at 910 67th Avenue North, Myrtle Beach, SC 29572 on Tuesday, November 26, with visitation for immediate family beginning at 11 a.m., followed by open visitation from 11:30-1pm. Funeral services will begin at 1 p.m., followed by internment at the Southern Palms Cemetery, so that she may be buried next to her husband, Phil.

The family is asking that anyone wishing to donate in her honor attend a local community theater production, and give the actors a warm round of applause.