When Roland Becnel Jr. was just 19 years old, he suffered serious injuries from an automobile accident that would confine him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
He didn’t let him stop him, nor even slow him down.
Earlier this month, flags were lowered at all St. Charles Parish government buildings to honor the life and legacy of Becnel, who passed away on Jan. 4 at the age of 81. Becnel was the first full-time treasurer and the last parish treasurer under the police jury system. He went on to serve as the first director of the parish’s Department of Finance, a role he served in until his retirement in 2000.
The Luling native was a key figure in parish government under multiple parish presidents and administrations. During his 25 years of service, he instituted the first computerized financial payroll and asset management system for the parish. He also helped facilitate the consolidation of the individual waterworks and sewer systems into parish-wide departments under the home rule charter government.
He was a man who especially loved his family, including his wife Joan, stepchildren Greg Boyne and Jennifer Aupied and six grandchildren. It also includes the large family he grew up in, as Becnel was one of 10 siblings.
Boyne was six years old when his mother married Becnel.
“I don’t think it was until my sister and I got a little older that we realized how much he had to overcome from a young age,” Boyne said. “He was 19 when (the accident) happened. He was able to overcome something for so much of his life and – for him, he didn’t consider it a handicap. I think for a lot of people, the mental part of it holds them back more than the physical part.
“I think a lot of times, you see people who might let their limitations define them. He didn’t. He was driven.”
Boyne said Becnel said through the years that the accident forced him to open his eyes in a way.
“He told us that, obviously the accident was a bad situation, but that he was maybe not on the best path at the time and it was kind of like a wake-up call for him,” Boyne said. “He went back and finished college. He wasn’t sure that he would have otherwise.”
He set quite the example for others. Boyne said that though Becnel was confined to a wheelchair for more than 60 years, not once did he ever use that as an excuse for anything – and through that example he taught Boyne and his sister to not make excuses.
“When he was the finance director, he had a good staff. And I knew that because we always heard him talk about and compliment his staff and the people who were in his department, and that they were a big reason the department had success. He took the blame when things went wrong and passed on the credit when things went right. And that’s a life-lesson that, maybe as a teenager, you don’t realize you’re getting, but as you get older, you start to understand ‘Oh, OK, that’s what that meant,’” said Boyne.
Becnel graduated from Hahnville High School and attended the University of New Orleans before graduating from Nicholls State University with a business degree in 1975.
But several years before earning that degree, Becnel suffered through the accident that rendered him a quadriplegic for the remainder of his life. Before he would return to school to earn his degree, several years were dedicated to rehabilitation, and he would endure several surgeries.
The same year he earned his degree, he began his career in 1975 as an accountant with St. Charles Parish before ultimately becoming full-time treasurer.
Former St. Charles Parish President Kevin Friloux chose Becnel as finance director upon the former’s election – the two had worked together as part of the parish’s police jury.
“He was treasurer for the police jury and I quickly learned he was very efficient and very honest,” said Friloux. “I appointed him when I took office … I wanted to hire people who were better than me at what they did. And he was top notch, a first-class individual. Whatever task he had, he did it to utmost excellence.”
Said Boyne, “He loved St. Charles Parish,. He took his job seriously and he loved working at the courthouse. He put pride into it and he gave everyone he came in contact with an understanding of perseverance and the value of hard work.”
Faith was also very important to Becnel. He was a lector and CCD instructor at Saint Anthony of Padua in Luling and Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Hahnville. He received The Order of St. Louis Medallion in 1990 in recognition of years of service to the Catholic Church.
