She assisted in her dad’s office and graduated a semester early in December of 1998. Her first class of Gross Anatomy at the Medical University of South Carolina College of Dental Medicine started in June of 1999, so Katherine decided she wanted to travel during the spring and drove across country seeing the natural, cultural and historic sites of the USA.

Dr. Katherine Grace graduated in 2003, joined her father’s practice and also became Dr. Katherine Hefner that same year, marrying her high school sweetheart, Ashley Hefner. They became parents to 3 boys over the next decade, Vann (13), Ford (11) and Bray (6), who all attend their alma mater, Beaufort Academy. Managing a dental practice is only one of Katherine’s daily duties, and Katherine will admit that her first priority is managing her household.

“The most important job I have is that of a mother. I make sure I come home every night, help the boys with their homework and give each of them the attention they deserve,” says Katherine. And her duties don’t stop there. Katherine has been the President of the Parent’s Association (PA) at Beaufort Academy for 6 years, coordinating a long list of activities and events that raise money and support the mission of the school. She meets with families who have just moved to Beaufort and makes them feel special as their children acclimate to a new school and a new town.

As Katherine juggles work, family and charitable causes, she makes sure she gets some time to herself. Though sometimes she works a Monday-Friday schedule, she likes to make Thursdays “her” days. A perfect day off from the dental practice would consist of a game of tennis in the morning on Cat Island, coordinating her meetings with teachers and duties as the President of the PA, hopefully a fun lunch with a friend and the ability to pick her sons up from school to personally take them to their after school activities.

And when she really has some down time, Katherine picks up a book. She is an avid reader of English history and a science fiction aficionado. She is currently in the midst of reading a six part series by Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, in which each novel covers one of each of his wives. Katherine also likes boating, swimming and life in the Lowcountry. Additionally, she and Ashley are renovating their home on Country Club Bluff, recently adding a full kitchen.

Some would ask, how does she have the time? Simply put, she is a planner. Her life’s mantra is, “efficiency and organization.” Anything that can save her a little time here and there makes her day more resourceful and less cluttered. Aesthetic Dentistry has been a part of the Grace and Hefner families for almost a half century. When asked if she thinks one of her boys or their cousins may take over the practice, she laughs, “Of the six grandchildren, my dad thinks he knows who it will be, but he won’t tell us.”

Only time will tell. The Beaufort community can be assured that the esteemed practice, voted 12 times with the “Best Dentist” from The Island News and The Beaufort Gazette, will be in business for years to come thanks to the ancestry of hard work, healthy moral standards, giving back and living life by the Golden Rule. Dr. Katherine Grace Hefner, DMD exemplifies all of these and more, creating a legacy of a strong, principled woman and setting a great example for her Beaufort boys.