Family, friends remember Tom Broussard
Published 7:20 pm Monday, March 18, 2019
Tom Broussard’s very public battle with brain cancer ended Monday.
Broussard, 57, was a longtime, active community member and businessman and co-CEO of Broussard’s Mortuary, of which his family has been part since the late 1800s. He took part in numerous organizations, including the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce and Young Men’s Business League, among other non-profit and charitable organizations.
He and 12News anchor Vanessa Holmes married last April in a fairy tale like wedding; the two were open about Tom’s lingering battle with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
Vanessa Holmes shared on “Head for the Cure” website how the illness had progressed and how one of his surgeries was performed just two weeks before their nuptials. Throughout their courtship, marriage and beyond they have shared personal photos and professed their faith in God.
Donnie Warner, the 2019 YMBL president and longtime friend of Broussard, said his friend’s passing is heartbreaking. The two had been friends since the third grade at Sallie Curtis Elementary School in Beaumont and both joined the YMBL at 19.
“He was as genuine and good of a person you would want to meet. He was a true lover of people and that was probably the best thing I can say about him,” Warner said. “Tom would teach us that you have to find the good in each of us and that’s certainly the way he lived his life.”
As far as Broussard’s YMBL career, he and Warner worked on many different projects together and some of the most memorable involved the youth animal auction, where Broussard served as ring man.
“He always made a colorful appearance, jumping and hollering and screaming and you didn’t go and just sit and watch. The more loud he got the more energetic the crowd got and in turn would benefit the kids and their animals would sell at a good price,” he said.
Broussard was also involved with the Babe Zaharias Relays for special needs students and took great pride in working the event.
“When we say we will miss him it’s with heavy hearts we have today,” he said. “He was truly one of a kind.”
As a mortician, Broussard held himself in a professional manner and was able to show compassion and empathy for his fellow man, knowing what others need in their time of grief.
“Tom is in a better place now. We all have hope we will get where Tom is today and he is looking down upon us to keep us safe and happy. I was very honored to know and love him,” he said.
Family member Jim Broussard said he was privileged to work side by side with his cousin for 37 years.
He called him kind and sensitive and said he served their shared profession and the community very well.
Rod Carroll, Vidor police chief, knew Broussard for 25 years and said he, too, was mourning the loss of a friend.
“Tom was a person that never met a stranger,” Carroll said. “He met everyone with a strong handshake and smile. Knowing Tom made this world a better place.”
A Rosary and Christian Vigil was being planned for Thursday evening at Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin Ave., Beaumont; the time will be announced.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11a.m. Friday at St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica, 700 Jefferson St., Beaumont. Burial will follow at the Broussard Family lot at Magnolia Cemetery, Beaumont. A gathering was being planned at the St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica Center following his burial.
Memorial contributions were suggested for the Garth House, 1895 McFaddin Ave., Beaumont, Texas 77701.