Joyce Cassel Frieden

Joyce Cassel Frieden, 75, of Houston, Texas, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 25, 2025. She was born July 12, 1949, in Giddings, Texas, to O. Lee and Opal Cassel. Joyce graduated from Deer Park High School and attended Texas Woman’s University at Denton and the University of Houston. She met the love of her life and married Lex Frieden on September 14, 1977. Lex, Joyce, their daughter, Melissa, and their friend, Malcolm Brodie, made their home in Houston.

Joyce loved hosting her family and friends in their home for birthdays and Christmas, and she especially loved her Halloween costume parties. Her hobbies included genealogy, bread baking, gardening, and growing succulents. She enjoyed traveling, attending Comicon, watching K dramas, and collecting Firefly memorabilia. She loved to go out for dinner with friends and family. She was particularly fond of French, Italian, and Tex-Mex cuisine. She loved Great Danes and raised Daney, Gwen, Governor, Lance, Commander, and Dominic, her gentle giants. She often traveled across the country to spend time with friends, many of whom she kept up with on Facebook.

Joyce was a very caring and sensitive person. She seldom projected herself out front. Nonetheless, she co-founded and served as the first Chairperson of the Houston Coalition for Barrier-Free Living. She served on the United Way board and supported numerous community organizations, including the Houston Food Bank, the Houston Area Women’s Center, and Planned Parenthood.

At age 20, while swimming in a creek near her home, Joyce contracted meningoencephalomyelitis, a very rare condition. She was in a coma for several days, and when she recovered, she was paraplegic and used a wheelchair for mobility. Two years later, she was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. She enjoyed solving puzzles and approached her disabilities like puzzles, finding ways to solve the challenges they posed to be productive and to enjoy a high quality of life. Her playful spirit and love of life were infectious. Her friends and people who knew her regarded her as resilient, determined, kind, and generous.

Joyce is survived by her husband Lex Frieden, her grandson, Rudolph Richard O’Connor III (Trey) and his wife Devon, of Houston, her brother Dan Cassel and his wife, Linda, and brother David Lee Cassel all of Santa Fe, Texas, sister-in-law Brooke Miller of Little Rock, Arkansas; nieces DeeAnn Citterman of Pearland, Roxy Waguespack and Rae Galloway of Pasadena, Amy Hilton of Livingston, Texas, nephew, Rob Miller of Little Rock and their families; and her dear friend, Teresa Ortiz who cared for her and was like a sister to her.

Joyce was preceded in death by her daughter, Melissa Cassel, and her parents, O. Lee and Opal Inge Cassel. Contributions may be made in Joyce’s memory to MD Anderson Cancer Center, where a scholarship has been set up in her name, or to Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League, Great Dane Friends of Ruff Love, or a charity of personal choice.