Becky Houck, professor of biology for 31 years, glorious tiny irrepressible energy, died on September 18, early in the morning. You never met a more cheerful, relentless, patient, tireless, generous, grinning, unselfconscious soul in your whole life. Yes, she was inarguably one of the greatest teachers in University history, and won every teaching and service award you can win (including Oregon Professor of the Year and Oregon Science Professor of the Year), and she was a walking smiling exemplar of belief in the holiness of all life, and she was such a fine scholar that just before she died she was honored for helping discover a new species of octopus, and she drove the University to invent its freshman center, but all her professional feats pale in comparison to the integrity and joy and grace of the person. She taught best by being Becky Houck, funny and endlessly curious and attentive and open-hearted. “Each day is a blessing.” she said, just before she died at age 58. “Each life is a miracle. I am so thankful…”
“We loved her instantly,” said Lara Shamieh ’99, now a science scholar like Becky. “She became our mama hen. We went to her for everything, good and bad, joys and sorrow. With her guidance we felt like we could take on the world...she said to me once, ‘you know, I put my heart and soul into my students, I give them everything, and then they graduate… I have so many babies in the world…’ When Becky was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, her students put together a book of letters for her. Letters flooded in from all over the world. One letter said best what we all thought: There are ‘people in life who shape you simply because they want so much for you, even more than you can imagine for yourself. They see past your fears and allow you to think more bravely for yourself. I don’t know if you have any idea how influential you were…your passions, charisma, and knowledge are contagious not only to me but to countless students…’ ‘I will always be there in the classroom with you,” she said to me, before I taught my first class, and that’s the last and greatest lesson I had from Becky: that she will be with us all whenever we need her…”
Her dear friend Father Tom Hosinski, C.S.C., delivered Becky’s eulogy. “She was wonder and awe and excitement walking among us,” he said. “She looked at the animals of the earth through the Creator’s eyes. She poured out her life and energies in service to others. She was an amazing teacher. She was a profound and enduring influence for good on thousands of people — how we all benefited from her selflessness and generosity! All of us loved her, every one. We were blessed by her joy…
A week before she died, I said to her, ‘You do know that you are the most beloved teacher at our University.’ And she looked at me, puzzled, and said, ‘I don’t know why...’ How characteristic of her not to be aware of what she was! And I told her, ‘Becky, it’s because you are the best of us.’” She was the best of us. There was never a more beautiful person on God’s earth. We will honor her in our memories and in our hearts for the rest of our lives.”
Of course there’s a Becky Houck Scholarship Fund, to help kids poke deep into the wonders of creation. Contact Monica Long, 503.943.7971, longm@up.edu or make a gift online.
— Editor
