Obituary: Alice Brauer, former LCMS missionary to India

Alice Brauer (center) is honored for her work as an LCMS missionary in India during the 2013 LCMS convention in St. Louis. Also recognized were, from left, Alice Paul, Darin Storkson, Katie (Lane) Lutz and the Rev. Dr. Gordon Beck, who was called to glory in March. (LCMS/Michael Schuermann)

Alice Gertrude Brauer, former Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) missionary to India, died on Sept. 30 in Vellore, India. She was 86.

Brauer was born to the Rev. Richard Henry and Erna M. (Bohl) Brauer on May 29, 1938, in Nagercoil, Travancore, India, the youngest of four children. At the time, her father was serving as the director of Concordia Theological Seminary, Nagercoil (CTSN).

Brauer was baptized in Nagercoil on June 13, 1938, and confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church, Norman, Okla., on Jan. 25, 1953. She attended Koehne Memorial School, Kodai Kanal, India, 1945–1948; Lincoln School, Norman, Okla., 1948–1951; Norman Junior High School, Norman, Okla., 1951–1953; and Grover High School, Grover, Colo., 1953–1956.

Brauer graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1961. She did graduate work at Northern State College and received a Certificate in Midwifery from Frontier Graduate School of Midwifery, Hyden, Ky., in 1967. In 1968, she began serving as a medical missionary in Madras (now known as Chennai), India, traveling from village to village to care for those who did not have ready access to medical care.

Brauer retired as an LCMS career missionary in 2003 but remained in India, continuing to serve part time at Bethesda Hospital in Ambur, working with new mothers and their babies and assisting the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC), an LCMS partner church.

On July 22, 2013, during the 65th Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in St. Louis, Brauer — who has sometimes been referred to as the “Mother Teresa” of the LCMS — was recognized for her many years of missionary service. A story that appeared in Reporter at the time said Brauer “received a lengthy standing ovation.”

In an interview given to LCMS Communications at the convention, Brauer talked about her missionary work and how it had changed over the years; thanked the LCMS and the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League for their years of support; expressed her love for the people of India; and discussed how the church’s mercy work is a way to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who so desperately need it. “We witness to Christ every opportunity we have, and it has been a real blessing to see many people come to Christ,” she said.

Brauer never married or had children. She remained in India until her death. She was buried on Oct. 3 on the campus of Bethesda Hospital after a funeral in the chapel of the hospital where she had spent so many years working.

The Rev. Charles Ferry, director of the LCMS Asia region, was able to attend the funeral. He reported that pastors from the IELC attended in large number, the chapel filled beyond capacity. The service was led by the Rev. Immanuel Sabapathy, president of the IELC Ambur District, and the sermon preached by IELC President Rev. Dr. J. Priestly Balasingh. “Some stood along the walls, while others stood outside the open front wall, covered by a tent,” Ferry shared. “Alice’s body lay in state in a glass case during the service, while various speakers addressed the mourners and recalled their times working with Alice and being served by her.”

Ferry continued:

“We are grateful for the long service Alice gave to the people of India, and particularly to the people of Ambur’s Bethesda Hospital. We are even more grateful for the confidence Christ has given to us that she remains secure in His loving hands, and that we will see her again with our own eyes when Jesus comes again in His glory as He promised.”

Harrison, who was recently in India to mark the 100th anniversary of CTSN — established in 1924 as a direct result of LCMS mission work and recently rebuilt in partnership with LCMS Disaster Response after a devastating 2017 hurricane — recalled meeting Brauer on a trip to Ambur 20 years ago. “Her work caring for the sick and needy and sharing Christ is well-known, even legendary — in the IELC and beyond. Thanks be to God for our sister, Alice; for the IELC; and for all who have worked tirelessly to bring the message of the Gospel to the people of India.”

Watch the 2013 interview with Brauer.

Posted Oct. 25, 2024/Updated Nov. 26, 2024