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A friend to everyone she ever met, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother, and an absolute spitfire until the very end, Priscilla Anne Blanchette (DePriest), 82, of Lake Worth, Florida, passed away January 29th, 2024, in Tallahassee, Florida, after a lengthy battle with lung cancer. She was born in Grinders Switch, Tennessee, in 1941 to Ouida Elizabeth and William Claude DePriest. She greatly admired her mother’s unwavering determination to provide for her children, especially after losing Claude in 1942, just one year after Priscilla was born. Priscilla often reminisced about their childhood and grinned like an opossum when she’d share the mischief they would get into. She was the youngest of four and made up for being the smallest by playfully tormenting her older siblings and keeping her mother on her toes. Her siblings lovingly referred to her as Prissy, and deep down, she adored being the baby. Priscilla had various jobs as a young adult, yet her absolute pride and joy was being a school bus driver for special needs children. She was a driver for over 30 years and proudly kept many of the yearbook pictures of students she drove for. She loved her time at the bus compounds, where she made lifelong friends with fellow drivers, aids, and mechanics. Once you were her friend, you were a friend for life. She met the love of her life, Jack Blanchette, at just 14 years old. She would laugh and say how he was too short, so she wasn’t interested, but many years and three children later, they were clearly made for one another. They spent their lives adventuring, racing cars, riding motorcycles, traveling domestically, raising their children and their granddaughter Audrey, and living simply. Jack passed away on April 19th, 2002, and there wasn’t a day that went by that Priscilla didn’t miss him. She was truly incomplete without her best friend. Priscilla and Jack had three children. Sonja Dee in 1959, Wendy Lynne in 1964, and, much to everyone’s surprise (especially Jack), JP in 1985. Sonja and Wendy would have their firstborn children weeks apart in 1983, while Priscilla, feeling left out, would have her last while raising Audrey in 1985. There was never a dull moment in her life. She has three grandchildren, Audrey, Justin, and Jackie, who collectively have seven children of their own, making Priscilla the proud great-grandmother to five boys and two girls. In true Priscilla fashion, after assisting with the birth of her first great grandchild, Raigen, she demanded to be called Grandma Hussy in lieu of a more traditional and socially acceptable moniker. And so Grandma Hussy was also born that day! Priscilla didn’t just raise her children and her granddaughter; she also raised a variety of animals. Never one to meet a stranger; this gift extends to every living being. It wasn’t uncommon to have pigs in the house, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and peacocks outside, dogs roaming, and even a tortoise tucked in next to her bed. After growing up having to ride horses as part of life on a farm, she swore off horses though. She was very much an animal person, yet she claims to have never liked cats. There are numerous photographs that say otherwise! The friends Priscilla made throughout her life are immeasurable. She married into Jack's family and instantly became not just his wife but best friends with each sibling, as well as his nieces and nephews. It became almost impossible to tell she was married in versus a born-and-raised Blanchette. She truly never met a stranger and welcomed anyone as family. Her heart was far larger than her little 90-pound body. Outside of familial friends, Priscilla made numerous lifelong friends through their motorcycle group, Jack's employer, Murray Logan, and the bus compounds. A typical day involved numerous visitors stopping by to sit outside under the swaying melaleuca trees to catch up with the pair. Their home was your home, and they were always happy to see you. As she aged, Priscilla had a few hobbies outside of being with family, which was truly her happy place. When she wasn’t reminiscing about some hilarious moment in time, she was watching races on TV, enjoying some trashy reality show on TLC, doing a word search, at the movies watching a b-rated scary movie, reading her raunchy western romance books, playing bingo, and losing or causing a ruckus with her granddaughter. The pair was often adventuring and getting into trouble wherever they went. She also enjoyed bonding with the numerous foster children Audrey and her wife Morgan helped throughout their time as therapeutic foster parents. Priscilla was a grandmother to many and loved any chance she got to hold a baby. And how could I forget her love of coffee? Extra extra sweet with extra extra cream. Priscilla will always be remembered for her beautiful smile, her mischievous laugh and her fondest for sweets. If there was a laugh to be had, she would be in the front row. I’ll always imagine hearing her say, “Keep smiling; better days are yet to come,” one more time. A phrase she coined from Jack and shared daily when parting ways. We couldn’t have asked for a better mother and grandmother, and we will miss her every day. Her memory will live on in the hearts of all those who loved her. I hope that each day those who loved her get up to a little mischief in her honor, laugh at an inappropriate time just as she would and have a sweet cup of coffee for her. Priscilla was preceded in death by her husband and best friend Jackie Perry Blanchette, her brother Bobby Jo Lomax DePriest, her sister Claudine Story, and her mother Ouida Elizabeth DePriest. She is survived by her children, Sonja, Wendy, and JP; her grandchildren, Audrey, Justin, and Jackie; and a tremendous amount of family and friends, all of whom miss the old girl every minute of the day. Breanna Green of Bevis Funeral Home (850-385-2193 or www.bevisfh.com) is assisting the family with their arrangements.

Tributes

Priscilla A. Blanchette

July 3, 1941 - January 29, 2024