Grace Byers Brown
Funeral services will be held Friday, Dec. 14, at 11 a.m. at Bethel CME Church for Grace Byers Brown.
Interment will be in West Crowley Cemetery.
On Dec. 5, 2018, Grace Byers Brown went home to be with the Lord. Grace lived a long and meaningful life, a life that was a blessing to all that she encountered.
She married Jesse Charles Brown on March 28, 1953, and they thrived as a couple until his death on Dec. 26, 2005.
Their daughter, Patricia Steverson, and granddaughter, Erica Nicole Steverson, survive her.
Grace graduated from HC Ross High School and Grambling University and spent her entire professional career teaching in the Acadia Parish School System. Most of that time she taught third grade. She was well known for her “roaring teacher’s voice” that she used effectively to keep order in her classroom.
She accepted Christ early in life and became a stalwart in Bethel CME Church. She loved her church, and served it in many capacities, including the Trustee Board, Stewardess Board #3, the Senior Choir, the missionary society and the pastor’s aide club. She served as church secretary almost 50 years, relinquishing her duties only when she became ill in 2017.
It was quite common that a visitor would find her sitting at her kitchen table writing her minutes or paying the church’s bills. The minutes were meticulous and the bills were always paid on time.
Grace was a charter member of the Crowley Chapter of the National Association of University Women, and a member of the American Legion Auxiliary #506. She pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in its Lafayette Alumnae Chapter in the late 1960s and was one of 12 charter members of the Crowley Alumnae Chapter in 1975. She served as financial secretary for many years.
She was an honored “Delta Dear” and in her later years became a respected and beloved counselor and supporter of her younger sorors. Her influence was so great that four of her nieces followed her into the sorority and serve chapters in their respective cities.
Grace was born to the large family of Johnny Byers Sr. and Mary Jane Byers. Her parents and most of her siblings predeceased her.
Her four sisters were Mary Belle Wicker, Vivian Robinson, Eula Maude Byers and Dorothy Byers. Her brothers were Robert Lee, Granville James, Ralph Curtis, Wesley, Charlie Leslie, Johnny Jr., Henry, Lawrence, Harold and Donald Ray Byers.
Of all her siblings, only Harold and Donald survive her.
She will be missed by her surviving brothers, her two sisters-in-law, Dora and Patricia Byers and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Visitation will be held Friday, Dec. 14, at Bethel CME Church from 9 a.m. until time of service.
The National Association of University Women Ceremony will be at 9:45 a.m. and the Delta Sigma Theta Omega Omega Ceremony will be at 10 a.m.
Sign the guestbook online at www.syriefh.com
Arrangements have been entrusted to Syrie Funeral Home, Inc., of Lafayette.