March 29, 1935 – January 8, 2022
BOWIE – Verna Mae Brashear, 86, passed away, Jan. 8, 2022, in Fort Worth, TX.
A funeral service will take place at 2 p.m. on Jan. 14, at the First United Methodist Church in Bowie. Burial will follow at Salona Cemetery in Bowie.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. on Jan. 13, at the White Family Funeral Home in Bowie.
Verna was born on March 29, 1935, to Albert Sidney Johnson and Cora Mae (Pillow) Johnson in Mount Vernon, TX. She always said she was lucky number seven of 10 children growing up in a big family with ties to history in Fort Worth and raised in Henrietta.
She graduated from Henrietta High School in 1953 where she later met Bobbie Brashear, Sr. at a rodeo dance, and they married 3 months later in Henrietta on Sept. 4, 1954. They moved to Houston while Bob attended Rice University where they begin their lives and 62-year history. They lived in Bowie for the rest of their lives raising three children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Verna Mae spent many years as a rancher’s wife raising her kids acting as a leader in parent teacher association, Cub Scouts and Camp Fire girls, as well as participating as a field census enumerator. Verna Mae was then inspired to go to college and became an educator. She graduated from Midwestern State University receiving a bachelor degree in education in 1972.
She had a lifelong passion both for teaching and learning and taught in the Bowie Independent School District for 28 years. She started her career teaching at South Ward spending most of her time in third grade and finishing as a sixth-grade math teacher. She always said both grades were so impressionable and loved both the creativity and working with numbers. She always advocated for furthering your education. Texas history was her favorite subject to teach.
She had many creative passions including quilting, crocheting, collecting and dealing in western art and cooking for her family. She also spent many years feeding the Brashear Brother ranch hands and crisscrossing the state as a basketball coach’s wife.
Verna Mae was involved in several quilting guilds. She had quilting blocks selected as part of fundraising efforts for 9/11 families as well as a block in the Texas Department of Agriculture’s “Common Threads of Texas” exhibition at the 1997 State Fair.
She was well known for making her signature chocolate chip cookies for coaches, teachers, athletes and students. She also had an annual tradition of crocheting custom ornaments for her students, grandkids and great-grandkid’s classes and storytime kids at the library.
The family was her life. Verna Mae’s pride in her family was extraordinary. She was very proud and loved watching her kids, grandkids and great-grandkids over the years participating in all their endeavors such as sports, band, rodeo, one-act play, and most importantly their academics.
She was very civic-minded and loved her community and giving back. An avid supporter of the Bowie education system and the community as a whole, she contributed to “The Bowie Knife Project” along with her husband, Bob as well as the Bowie Education Foundation and the Bowie Mission. Contributions to Rice University’s higher education scholarship program were also an important priority.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bobbie Brashear, Sr.; parents, Albert Sidney and Cora Mae (Pillow) Johnson; and siblings, Calvin, Hollis, Bobby, Buddy, Victor, and Bill Johnson, Joann Bachman, Katherine Nunez; and grandson, Matthew Brashear.
Verna Mae Johnson is survived by her children Bobbie Brashear, Jr., Jan Browning and husband Kevin, and Lance Brashear, all of Bowie; grandchildren, Jennifer Glover and husband Lyal Glover, Northlake; Tiffany and Clay Egenbacher, Vashti; Brandon and Jana Brashear, Snyder; Casey and Chelsea Brashear, Burleson; Chance Browning, Washington D.C.; Julia Hilker, Wichita Falls; Mikaela Neubauer, Arlington; great-grandchildren, Caleb, Stryker, Maverick and Marli Brashear, Cy and Tess Egenbacher, Stormy Brashear, and Claire and Ava Frederiksen and brother, Sidney Johnson, Wichita Falls.
Arrangements entrusted to the White Family Funeral Home of Bowie, Texas.
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