She was a 1942 graduate of Belleville Township High School. In 1946, she received a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. During her senior year, she was president of Pi Kappa Sigma Sorority (now Sigma Kappa) and was listed in the 1945-1946 edition of Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. On June 12, 1948, she married Frank Brashier in the First Methodist Church, Carbondale, IL. She earned a Master of Arts in French from the University of Arizona, Tucson and a Master of Education degree from the University of Mississippi, Oxford. In 1960, she was awarded a NDEA (National Defense Education Act) grant to study French at Washington University, St. Louis, MO. Two years later, she was awarded a second NDEA grant to study French with the University of Oregon in Tours, France. She also did graduate work at Saint Louis University, at the Ecole Francaise at Middlebury College in Vermont at The Ohio State University in Lyon, France and at Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico.
Grace was a member of several honors societies: Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Delta Phi and Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. Grace was also a member of the American Association of Teachers at French and the American Association of University Professors. She was a member of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Belleville, IL, the Belleville Area Humane Society, and the St. Clair County Garden Club. She taught in Belleville Junior High School, Coulterville High School, Scott School (part of the Mascoutah, IL system), Mascoutah High School and spent most of her teaching career teaching French at Belleville Area College (now SWIC).
She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank, who died on June 15, 1991; her parents, John and Florence, nee Richards, Wegner; her niece, Nancy Jane Wegner; her nephew, Thomas M. Hess; her brother, Richard John Wegner; her sister, Ethel May Wegner Hess; and many aunts, uncles and cousins.
Grace is survived by her sister-in-law, Patricia (Mager) Wegner;
five nephews, Richard E. Wegner, Robert W. Hess, David L. Hess, John P. Hess, and Andrew J. Hess;
a great-nephew, John P. Hess, Jr;
and her nieces, Cynthia J. (Wegner) Reiniger, Debra S. (Wegner) Craig, Rebecca L. (Wegner) Fowlkes, and Laurie A. (Wegner) Richards.
Memorials may be made to her favorite charities, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Gateway Chapter 8251 Maryland Ave. Suite 12, Clayton, MO 63105, The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, Gateway Area Chapter, P.O. Box 78129, St. Louis, MO 63178-8129, or Autism Speaks, 1121 Olivette Executive Parkway, Suite 220, St. Louis, Mo. 63132. Memorials may be expressed to the family online at www.rennerfh.com.
Private services will be held.