Grace was born Aug. 25, 1913, the daughter of John George and Anna Tongish Lechner of Nebraska City, Neb. She graduated from St. Bernard Academy in Nebraska City in 1931. Grace entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph and on August 14, 1934, she received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Joan Marie.
Sister Joan Marie was asked to assist at the Kentucky schools in Curdsville, St. Alphonsus and Browns Valley during 1935. She was then assigned to St. Joseph School in Owensboro, Ky., where she taught for 12 years. Other assignments took her to the high schools in New Haven and St Francis, Ky. In 1953, Sister Joan Marie joined the faculty at Brescia College in Owensboro. She earned a doctorate in English from St. Louis University during the years 1956-1960. Her dissertation titled, Renaissance Concepts of the Commonplace, was published in 1962. Sister Joan Marie was appointed president of Brescia College and remained in that position from 1960-1974. Aside from her many accomplishments at Brescia College and in the advancement of higher education throughout the region, Sister Joan Marie received many awards as a civic leader promoting the development and enrichment of the Owensboro-Daviess County area.
Sister Joan Marie went to Bowling Green, Ky., in 1974 as director of religious education in the parochial school of St. Joseph and adult education in Holy Spirit parish. On October 6, 1975, after an afternoon of entertaining the Ursulines at a housewarming in the newly renovated convent at St. Joseph, Sister suffered a fatal heart attack early that evening. The following day, Mass was celebrated for her at Holy Spirit Church. Her remains were taken to Brescia College for a wake service and Mass on October 8. Father Robert Lechner, CPPS, Sister’s brother, celebrated the funeral Mass at Mount Saint Joseph on October 9, along with Father Lucian Hayden, pastor of St Joseph Church, Father Joseph Mills, pastor of Holy Spirit Church who gave the homily, and 21 other priests. Bishop Henry Soenneker was in the sanctuary. Sister Joan Marie’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery. Among her survivors was her Ursuline sister, Sister Johanna.