Priscilla Becnel Chauvin

Priscilla was born Anne Priscilla Becnel on July 31, 1946, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Lawrence Frances Becnel, Sr. and Helen Dominic Bossier Becnel. She grew up in Destrehan, Louisiana before moving to El Dorado, Arkansas in her teens. Priscilla graduated from El Dorado High School and attended Louisiana State University where she met her husband, John Albert Chauvin II. They married on June 4, 1966 at Christ the King Chapel on the LSU campus. Following her husband’s career around the country, Priscilla attended the University of Hawaii and California State College in Hayward, before receiving her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Maryland in 1970.

Priscilla spent seven years working at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1977, she and John moved to Houston, Texas, where she joined Baylor College of Medicine. After the birth of their first daughter in 1981, Priscilla chose to step away from her career to focus on family life. For 16 years, she lovingly raised her daughters, Lauren and Meggie, creating a warm and nurturing home. In 1996, with both daughters grown into independent teenagers, Priscilla returned to work at MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she worked until retirement in 2011.

Priscilla was devoted to her family and her grandchildren. In addition to her love of her entire extended family, Priscilla was an avid gardener, a birder, a talented seamstress, an incredible baker and chef, a lover of butterflies and native species, a lifetime devotee of bluegrass and classical music, and a prolific reader. In her later years, she exercised regularly at the local gym and developed a supportive and loving circle of friends. Known as “Gree” to her grandchildren and many of their friends, Priscilla welcomed all children with love and fudge.

Priscilla is preceded in death by her parents and her beloved brother, Peter Albert Becnel. She is survived by her husband, John, her children Lauren Martin (Marc) and Meg Groesbeck (Brad), and their children, Gabriel and Ayla Martin, and Simon Groesbeck, her siblings, Lawrence Becnel, Jr, Helen Burchfield, Mary Catherine Brown, Jeanneane Austin, David Becnel, Timothy Becnel, John Becnel, and Joseph Becnel, 16 nieces and nephews, and numerous great nieces and nephews, step nieces and nephews, and cousins.

Services for Priscilla are as follows:

Memorial service and reception

Saturday, January 10, 2026, 1:00-4:00pm

St Phillips United Methodist Church

5501 Beechnut Street

Houston, TX 77096

Inurnment

Monday, January 12, 2026, 11:00am

Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery

7801 Gulf Freeway

Dickinson, TX 77539

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests you donate to Priscilla’s favorite animal rescue program, The Empty Shelter Project, an organization where she spent many joyous weekends helping with their spay and neuter program.

https://www.theemptyshelterproject.org/donate