Life for University of St. Thomas alumna Julie Overlease, M.Ed. ’03, changed in a blink of an eye when on a lovely April afternoon a backyard tree cracked and a heavy limb fell. Overlease’s twelve-year-old daughter Evelyn suffered a devastating blow to her head as she shielded her puppy from harm. She was rushed to the hospital for emergency neurosurgery. This life-threatening event shook her family to the core.

To try and understand this tragedy, Overlease wrote her first book, “Hope Upon Impact: A Miraculous True Story of Faith, Love and God’s Goodness,” which will be published by Paraclete Press on the two-year mark of Evelyn’s accident. The book will be released in April 2020 and can be found at Paraclete Press, Goodreads, ChristianBook.com and Barnes and Noble.

“It is my sincere desire that by sharing the raw and excruciating moments of our experience and recounting Evelyn’s unbelievable road to restored health, others will be inspired by the Lord’s presence and grace every step of the way,” Julie said. “We are not in control in life. We must have faith and remember to, “Hope on!” come what may.”

Prior to becoming a wife and mother of four, Overlease taught middle school science and Integrated Physics and Chemistry in Houston Independent School District while coordinating a National Science Foundation Program for Rice University. She has been active in various volunteer roles in Kansas  Ciity and at Curé of Ars Catholic Church and School, for the last decade. The Overleases currently live in Kansas City.