Mary Louise Brazier

- Mary Louise Madden Brazier of Wamego, Kansas, passed peacefully in her sleep at the age of 82 on Friday, March 12, 2010, at St. Petersburg, Florida. Her journey through life began at Christ Hospital in Topeka, Kansas on August 21, 1927, as the third child born to Paul and Grace Dickson Madden of Auburn, Kansas. Mary Louise was a fourth-generation Kansan, the descendant of a family – the Dicksons – who settled in southwestern Shawnee County prior to Kansas statehood, and who was always proud of the small, tight-knit community in which she was raised. The valedictorian of her graduating class at Auburn High School, Mary Louise subsequently attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, where she was a member of Clovia. She and Rogers, her husband of 63 years, met in the Fall of 1946 at an Acacia-Clovia “hour dance,” experienced what they later described as the “right sparks,” and were married three and one-half months later on January 18, 1947, at the Auburn home of Mary Louise’s parents. The ultimate tribute to the lifelong love affair of Mary Louise and Rogers was his statement that “she brings a smile to me every day and peacefulness every night.” Mary Louise was dedicated to her family, home, friends, church, and community. She was an accomplished seamstress, artisan, avid reader, and collector of vintage items, as well as the beautiful rocks that she gathered on many memorable family vacations. Like her own mother, Mary Louise was a nurturing woman who loved the changing seasons. She found great pleasure in caring for her houseplants and maintaining her flower beds. Watching baby squirrels chase each other across her front yard and up the big oak tree out by the street brought child-like joy to this woman who loved all creatures, and saw only beauty in the environment around her. Together, she and Rogers enjoyed traveling to WW II U.S. Navy reunions, attending Kansas State University sporting events, and participating in activities of the Arab Shrine Temple. Mary Louise was a past State Executive Treasurer of the PEO, a member and past President of Chapter EY PEO of Wamego, Kansas, a member of the Methodist Church in Wamego, a past bookkeeper for the Methodist Women’s Thrift Store, and a former, active member of the Wamego Historical Society. Preceded in death by her parents, Paul and Grace Madden, as well as by her brother, D. Philip Madden. Mary Louise is survived by her husband Rogers, her four children, Beverly Noun (Robert), Barbara Swayze (Steve), Rogers Brazier (Nancy), and Denise Thornton (Mace), 11 grandchildren; Christopher, Stefanie, Stephen, Stewart, Spencer, Morgan, Hayley, Meredith, Trace, Troy, Taylor; seven great-grandchildren, and by her sister, Pauline Robinson of Topeka. Mary Louise will lie in state after 1:00 p.m. on Friday, March 19, 2010 at the Stewart Funeral Home, Wamego, Kansas, where the family will receive friends from 7:00 until 8:30 p.m.. Christian burial will be celebrated at 10:30a.m. on Saturday, March 20th at the First United Methodist Church of Wamego. Private graveside services will follow at Wamego City Cemetery. In honor of the life of Mary Louise Madden Brazier memorial donations may be made to Chapter EY- PEO of Wamego, Kansas and may be left in care of Stewart Funeral Home of Wamego, P.O. Box 48, 66547.