Murder sparks scholarship

By Kelsey Proud

Published March 4, 2008

The family of murdered St. Louis attorney and MU graduate Ernest Brasier has created a scholarship in his memory.

The scholarship will be available for first-year law students in fall 2009, School of Law Development Director Mark Langworthy said.

According to a School of Law news release, Brasier was found dead of a gunshot wound in his office in the Boggs, Boggs & Bates law firm in St. Louis on Dec. 19, 2006. The case remains unsolved, leaving Brasier’s friends and family searching for answers.

“I just can’t imagine why, or who,” said Pat Holtmeier, Brasier’s wife. “He just didn’t have enemies, and I can’t figure this out.”

Holtmeier described Brasier as someone who insisted on giving back, even when times were tough.

“He talked to me from the day we were married about the need to give back,” Holtmeier said. “And I used to say ‘Ernie, we have nothing. Just what do you want me to give back?’ And he just always said we were here to serve others.”

Clayton police detective Jeff Brinkley said there are no new leads in the case, but that the department keeps in touch with Brasier’s family on a regular basis.

“I don’t know how much they have or how close they are, but sometimes I feel they don’t have anything,” Holtmeier said. “Not that knowing gives you closure, but I just want to know why this happened.”

Holtmeier said that Brasier was heavily involved with high school mock trial teams around the St. Louis area, and she wanted to honor his commitment as a component of the scholarship. The application process will favor applicants who have taken part in mock trial in high school or college, she said.

“That was the only thing I could think to do,” Holtmeier said. “And to somehow tie it to the high school programs, because he felt mock trial was such a good thing.”

Holtmeier said she also recognizes the financial burdens college students face today.

“Back when I went to school it seemed as if there were so many more grants and scholarships available,” Holtmeier said. “And so we didn’t come out of school with tremendous debt.”

With the creation of the Ernest F. Brasier Memorial Scholarship, Holtmeier said she hopes to help ease the strain.

“It bothers me to see these kids have to face all of this debt along with all of these other responsibilities they have when they get out of school,” Holtmeier said.

Through his namesake scholarship, Brasier’s memory lives on as an endowment that will increase with time and university investments, according to Langworthy.

“Initially it’ll pay a little over $2,000 to a recipient each year,” Langworthy said. “It should, over time, continue to grow, hopefully in a way that will exceed the rate of inflation.”

As the years pass, Holtmeier will welcome the growth of the scholarship, because she finds solace in giving.

“I want to give more in the future,” Holtmeier said. “My youngest is a freshman at Mizzou, and so when I get my kids out of school I hope to give more, because that is the only way you can feel better about all this.”