Jacquelyn McDonald Royce

Jacque was born in Houston on the 12th of November 1941, the only child of Christine Holly McDonald and Robert Alexander McDonald, and was proud to be a lifelong Houston resident, growing up in the East End and maintaining fierce loyalties to her lifelong friends, especially members of her beloved Scottish Brigade.

She attended Burnet Elementary School, Jackson Junior High School, Stephen F. Austin High School (Class of ‘59) and Baylor University (Class of ’63). After graduating from Austin High School Jacque attended Baylor University, where she was a member of Alpha Omega/Pi Beta Phi and majored in education and biology. Following graduation in Waco she returned to Houston and took on the challenging task of teaching biology at Austin to the younger siblings of many of her friends.

After teaching Jacque took a position at the federal courthouse as deputy courtroom clerk for Judge Ben Connally and Judge Woodrow Seals. While working there she met her future husband, Joe, who was a law clerk for Judge John V. Singleton, Jr. They married on the 3rd of August 1968, and from that time forward Jacque devoted her life to raising two wonderful children and a husband and volunteering for a host of civic organizations.

She is survived by her husband Joe; her son Bob Royce and his wife Scarlett, and their five children, Emma, Austin, Ben, Ava and Maya, all of whom live in or near Berryville, Virginia; her daughter Holly Royce Cole and her husband Brad, and their three children, Ripley, Louise and Henry, all of whom currently live in Shanghai, China; and dear cousins and others related through the Holly and McDonald families.

It would be impossible to list all of the civic organizations on which Jacque served and directed. She was president of The Houston Junior Forum, The Houston Junior Forum Endowment Fund, The Houston Bar Association Auxiliary, The Houston Bar Association Auxiliary Charitable Fund, the Women’s Public Relations Committee of St. Joseph’s Hospital, the 135 year-old Ladies’ Reading Club, The Houston Baylor Women’s Association, the Austin High School Alumni Association and the Scottish Brigade Alumnae. She also served as Regent of the John McMitt Alexander Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and she probably led every PTA at every school that Bob and Holly attended; unfortunately for them, she and Joe also chaperoned all of their social activities at each of those schools. At her passing, Jacque was most involved with Austin High School and as a member of the managing board of directors of Retina Research Foundation, where she was extremely close to its founder, Alice McPherson, MD, who saved her vision many years ago.

When reflecting on the organizations Jacque led, remember that each leadership role was preceded by several years’ service in lower offices, and that will give a better appreciation of the time Jacque devoted to her calling.

Jacque was a tireless supporter of her alma mater, Austin High School, going back to her teaching days when she guided students both inside and outside the classroom, and later through its alumni associations and by her participation in the school’s site-based management team. She took great delight in helping to organize class reunions and co-chairing Austin’s 60th and 70th anniversaries and in advising on its 75th, and relished the opportunities to be with not only her classmates but Austin alumni from all years.

Jacque and Joe were 40-year members of Chapelwood United Methodist Church, where Jacque served as a Stephen Minister, on the Wedding Guild, and on the Kitchen Ministry.

Jacque made friends wherever she went, and maintaining those friendships was so very important to her. Nothing meant more to her than to be able to be with friends and family, whether at family reunions, Baylor Homecomings, gatherings in Salado with close friends from Baylor, her monthly Lunch Bunch, her monthly Retina Research Foundation meetings and its special occasions hosted by Dr. McPherson, or the various Austin High School activities.

Jacque’s health and her mobility and stamina had declined in recent years and limited her ability to join with others as she once did. Her family wants to thank all of Jacque’s friends for reaching out during her decline and especially providing creative support during the pandemic.

Due to travel and other restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 issues, a memorial service will be held at a later date to celebrate and honor this loving and much-loved lady who expressed her faith in the service of others.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests that memorial contributions be directed to Baylor University (Jacquelyn McDonald Royce Endowed Scholarship), One Bear Place #97026, Waco, TX, 76798-7026; Retina Research Foundation, 1977 Butler Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030; Stephen F. Austin High School Alumni Association, P.O. Box 53746 Houston, TX 77052; The Chapelwood Foundation, 11140 Greenbay St., Houston, TX, 77024; or to the organization with which you most closely associate Jacque.