Stewarding An Immeasurable Legacy


Honoring a legacy of partnership support that spanned six decades, North Greenville University dedicated the Dr. T. Walter and Christine Brashier Con- ference Room at NGU’s Tim Brashier Campus May 20.


Dr. T. Walter Brashier, Sr., died March 24, 2021, at the age of 86. His widow, Christine Brashier, was present for the dedication event in Greer. The Tim Brashier Campus is named for the Brashiers’ late son.


The elder Brashier had battled several health issues in recent years but contin- ued engaging with evangelical ministry and the higher education causes he had supported through transformational gifts through- out his career. The successful real estate developer was NGU’s greatest individual donor, with his philanthropic investments to the university nearing $10 million since an initial 1972 gift to fund construction of apartment units on the Tigerville campus.


In welcoming family and guests to the ceremony, Justin Pitts, NGU’s assistant vice president for Greer campus operations, explained the influence of the Brashier name at the university: “We have the privilege, we have the honor, and we have the joyful obligation of stewarding the Brashier family legacy. It is a legacy of grace, a legacy of giving, and a legacy of Jesus’ love that cares about the heart and the eternity of everyone who walks in these doors.”


NGU President Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr., said the conference room had special significance in his own relationship with Dr. Brashier. He recalled an event in July 2018 when he joined the Brashiers in the conference room to view a “thank you” video from NGU graduate and online students. Dr. Fant said the students’ words led to an emotional response from the noted philanthropist.


Mrs. Christine Brashier and President Fant unveil a photograph of the Brashiers which is displayed in the Dr. T. Walter and Christine Brashier Conference Room at NGU’s Tim Brashier Campus.


of philanthropy made a difference. I think this is so appropriate. This room is in the center point of this campus, and the influence is headed out in every direction.”


“The gifts that God had given through him had come to so many lives,” Dr. Fant said. “Every time I come in this room I think of him.”


Among commemorating elements in the room is a framed copy of the notes for Dr. Brashier’s last sermon, covering the verses of Psalm 23.


“That sermon manuscript really is a reminder that behind all of the other things that he did – so many things that put his name in the paper – that really, you had the heart of a pastor, the heart of a preacher that loved people so much,” said Dr. Fant.


The room also features a plaque noting the conference room honors the Brashiers for “their love for the Lord, love for people, and steadfast generosity.”


Mrs. Brashier joined President Fant in unveiling a four-foot by three-foot framed photograph of the couple seated on a swing in front of the Tim Brashier


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“Miss Christine, you and Dr. Walt have a legacy that is so much even beyond your family,” said Dr. Larry McDonald, dean of the graduate school.


Noting her family’s decades-old ties to the university, Mrs. Brashier said, “My grandfather rode a horse from Mountain View to North Greenville – he and his brother, Charlie Lynn and Ed Lynn. That was a hundred years ago.”


Several Brashier family members were in attendance for the ceremony, includ- ing two of their children, Rev. Tommy Brashier, and Kathy Brashier Higgins.


“This is a great honor,” said Rev. Brashier, a 1975 North Greenville graduate. “We appreciate North Greenville; we appreciate the graduate school and every- body who works here. Our hearts are overwhelmed.”


Also present were Dr. Brashier’s sister, Faye Brown; the Brashiers’ grandson, Dr. Wesley Brashier, a 2010 NGU master’s degree graduate; and his wife, Caitlin.


Campus building.


Members of NGU’s Board of Trustees Executive Committee joined in the event inside the conference room, which is designed to seat 22.


“I don’t think there’s a preacher that’s ever come through South Carolina on 85 that wasn’t impacted by Dr. Brashier,” said Dr. Mike Hamlet, NGU board chair and pastor of the First Baptist Church of North Spartanburg. “He was truly a legend as a pastor, a preacher, an evangelist, as someone who in terms


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