Priscilla Anne Morris Chesnut

ELIZABETHTOWN | Priscilla Anne Morris Chesnut passed away in peace at 8:05 a.m. Tuesday morning, Feb. 17, 2026, at Champlain Valley Senior Center in Willsboro, N.Y. She was surrounded by the love and presence of her family and many close friends and tireless caregivers in her "New Home" of the last few years of her life. Priscilla was born Oct. 1, 1937, at the Elizabethtown, N.Y., hospital to John and Stella Morris, who brought her straight back home to a cabin that was built by her young father's own hands on the east base of Hurricane Mountain in Elizabethtown. She was raised in the Adirondacks (along with her older brother, Michael, and her soon-to-arrive sisters, Judith and Candace) and taught to hike, skate, sing, write stories and dream while often laying under the canopy of the trees and wild sky she loved. She would say she was "Mountain Born" and she cherished the Adirondacks, and all that it held, to her dying day. Priscilla was widowed by her teenage "love of her life," John G. Chesnut, in September of 2011 after over 55 years of a loving marriage. She and John had four children: John, Sharon, Lee and Daniel, who were raised in a home filled with love, music, laughter, Christian values, the sense of adventure and creativity and a constant supply of handmade fresh bread, sweet cinnamon rolls, raisin-filled cookies and treats of all kinds like you would find in the best bakery in the "Whole Wide World"! Priscilla was a gifted artist from a very young age. Inspired by the beauty and wonder of the Adirondacks, she naturally wrote fine poetry and creative stories and journals filled with her thoughts about nature and life around her. She would continue to write throughout her adult life. She was published in a major newspaper out West for her weekly "Priscilla's Corner" in which she would share ideas for raising children and recipes for special treats and thoughts she had on nature and our place in it. She also wrote Christian essays that were published and Sunday School curriculum. She wrote numerous books for her fulfillment that she shared with many she knew: "An Accumulation of Joy" exploring the presence of the Holy Spirit in her life, "I Hear the Music Still" expressing the joy of music she heard in her home and the magic moments of childhood, and "Cherish the Days" recounting her experiences raising her own family of four. These, along with countless other writings, were an expression of the heart she had and how she "felt" the world around her. In 1966, while living for a short period in Orange, Calif., Priscilla took an oil painting class and produced what her family believes are "Masterpieces." Her painting skills would be used throughout her life, producing all kinds of visual art that focused on childhood memories in the magic of the Adirondacks. Priscilla did become somewhat well-known in the area for her art as she produced paintings of the Adirondacks, greeting cards, Christmas ornaments and Valentine's Day Cards in amazing quantities. She may be best known for her handwoven, dyed and hand-painted baskets that she sold for many years in the area that she would label "Baskets By Priscilla." Priscilla's life was always filled with music. She sang in the early hours while vacuuming, which her children could never understand how she had so much energy before the sun came up. She decided to learn to play guitar and quickly began leading music in the local church, playing her guitar and singing the new "Jesus Music" that was becoming popular in the 1970s. While Priscilla truly loved nature and art, she loved God and her family more intensely and, we feel, even more skillfully, than these wonderful things. She was truly a gift and brought joy to all of her family and countless close friends she developed over her life. She was always joyful. Always loving. Never judgmental. And always, always, an Adirondack, Mountain-Born Girl. Priscilla is survived by her sisters, Judith Shepard and Candace Kohen, and sister-in-law Carol Morris; her children and their spouses, John and Cheryl Chesnut, Sharon and Jay Haugen, Lee and Sandra Chesnut, Daniel Chesnut; grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Stephanie and Drew Chesnut-Coombs (Lucas), Audrey Chesnut (Aidan), Christina Brown, John Chesnut, Melody and Andre Lacey, Kimberly Gray (Brayden and Zoe), Michael and Kelly Haugen (Finn), Jamie and Zack Benson (Radley and Wyatt), Joshua and Carrie Chesnut (Bella, Avonlea, Samuel, Nora), Rebekah and Tom Moffett (Carter, Abigail, Emma), Daniel and Katie Chesnut (Brooklyn), Nathaniel and Daniella Chesnut (Noah, River, Amalie), and Danielle and Josh Vailes (Camden); cousins, and numerous nieces and nephews and numerous grand-nieces and nephews. Priscilla's life was truly enriched by each person in her family and extended family and dear close friends, and she loved each one with all her heart. Priscilla would often say that she "Carries the Love Forward" that she received from the ones who dearly loved her. Each of us listed here would like to say to her: "We will carry your love forward to the end of our dying day!" We love you, Priscilla! And will miss you so very much. But we have the Hope of Heaven and confidence that we will be with you at the reunion celebration with Jesus and once again see you dancing and singing at the top of your lungs! A funeral service to honor her life was held on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, at 11 a.m. at the United Church of Christ in Elizabethtown. Services were entrusted to Heidrick Funeral Home, PO Box 188, Elizabethtown, NY 12932.

Signup for our newsletter

Priscilla Anne Morris Chesnut

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS