Mrs. Bernice Briscoe's Obituary
"A light from our household has dimmed. A voice we loved has been stilled. A place is vacant in our hearts that can never filled."
Our beloved matriarch, Mrs. Bernice Briscoe, entered into Eternal rest on January 13, 2021.
Her Celebration of Life service will be held in the Rose Chapel of Mabrie Memorial Mortuary and attended privately.
Livestream access to her service will begin at 12:00 P.M. on Thursday, January 21, 2021: https://www.mabriemortuary.com/BerniceBriscoe
Bernice was born December 15, 1914 in Jeanerette, Louisiana. After moving to Houston with her parents, she graduated from Booker T. Washington High School and completed two years of college at the Houston College for Negroes.
During World War I, she moved to Los Angeles, California and worked as a machinist and welder in the ship building industry. After a few years, she returned to Houston to work as a reporter in the news and entertainment departments at the Informer newspaper.
She met and married Roosevelt Briscoe and gave birth to three children. Realizing the importance and necessity of an education and as a role model for her three young daughters, Bernice enrolled in Texas Southern University to complete her degree. She graduated from Texas Southern University with a Bachelors degree in Education and then obtained her Masters degree in Education from the University of Texas.
Bernice taught school for 26 years and was one of the first teachers to administer reading clinics in HISD, thereby helping thousands of young students to read. While teaching, she also became a licensed real
estate salesperson and broker helping her husband create and develop Briscoe Realty and Development Corporation, a well-known and successful real estate company in Third Ward for over 30 years.
Bernice was a longstanding member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. During a two-year period of her tenure with the sorority, she held the position of Basileus, which is the highest elected position in the local chapter. Under her leadership, she chartered the first student undergraduate chapter at the University of Houston.
Bernice also remained a faithful member of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church for over 50 years while serving as Chairperson of the Deaconess Board and in various other capacities.
Through the years, Bernice’s passion for education manifested itself into supporting educational opportunities for our youth. She established a non-profit corporation, the Roosevelt and Bernice Briscoe Scholarship Fund, which provided financial aid to deserving students at her alma mater, Texas Southern University.
Bernice‘s legacy will live on and she will continue to be an inspiration to her family, friends, neighbors and others whose path she crossed.
What’s your fondest memory of Bernice?
What’s a lesson you learned from Bernice?
Share a story where Bernice's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Bernice you’ll never forget.
How did Bernice make you smile?
