Velma Vasquez (nee Brush) on
January 31, 2008, Born March 21, 1925
Dear daughter of the late Joseph W. and Sylvia (Korando) Brush. Dear wife of the late Leo Vasquez. Dear mother of Joseph (Donna) Vasquez, Leo (Martha) Vasquez, Edward (Margret) Vasquez, Mary (Lee) Schneider, Lawrence Vasquez and Susan (James) May. Cherished grandmother of Heather Sheperd, Nathan Prater, Nicole Vasquez, Paul (Sarah) Vasquez, Matt (Anna) Prater, Michelle Schneider, Candice Vasquez, Diane Vasquez, Danielle Vasquez, Nicholas May, Joshua Schneider, Michael May, Brian Vasquez, Christopher Vasquez, Ellen Vasquez, Ailaina May, and Erin May. Beloved great-grandmother of Tylor Vasquez, Jacob Presnell, Noah Vasquez and Tessa Vasquez. Dear sister of Cecilia (Fred) Ringhofer. Beloved Aunt, cousin and friend.

It was Velma’s wish that her body be donated to St. Louis University School of Medicine.

Velma was born in Degognia Township, IL and raised in a southern Illinois farming community. She graduated as Valedictorian of Gorham High School in 1943 and received her Bachelors Degree in nursing from St. Louis University in 1947. Upon graduation she worked for the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Coral Gable, FL taking care of returning WWII Veterans. She returned to St Louis, MO where she worked as a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital and married Leo Vasquez in 1949; they lived out the rest of their lives in North St. Louis County and raised six children. After receiving her Masters degree of Education from St. Louis University in 1966, she began teaching nursing at Missouri Baptist Hospital and then worked as a Nursing professor at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley until her retirement in 1994. She was advisor to the Student Nursing Association, member of American Nurses Association, retired board member of the Missouri Soil and Water Conversation, and a volunteer to the OASIS of greater St. Louis.
In lieu of flowers