Martin Lee Broussard

St. Martinville – A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, January 4, 2021, at St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church for Martin Lee Broussard, 91, who passed away on Saturday, December 12, 2020, at Lafayette General Medical Center.
Rev. Ed Degeyter will officiate at the Memorial Mass. Inurnment will follow at St. Michael Mausoleum in St. Martinville.
Lee was born July 4, 1929, and was raised on a farm in Loreauville, La, the 7th of nine children. He passed away peacefully Dec. 12, 2020, at the age of 91, after a long life filled with family, laughter, good food, hard work and prayer.
He learned to work hard and become disciplined at a young age and graduated from Loreauville High School in 1946. He was fond of saying that he graduated at the bottom of his class and that, when the school caught fire and burned down, all his books burnt, as he never brought them home.
After graduation, he tried his hand at farming on the family farm and decided it was not for him. He joined the service in early 1949 and was assigned to the GHQ Guard Co. in Tokyo later that year. When the Korean War broke out in June 1950, he answered the call for a secret mission volunteer group to be comprised of GHQ personnel with above average physical, mental and swimming abilities.
After undergoing vigorous Special Forces combat training, the 125-man unit was called upon to perform a diversionary raid on Sept. 12, 1950, 100 miles south of the real invasion site of Inchon, set for Sept. 15, in the hope of drawing significant hostile forces away from the real invasion site. The raid was carried out in the dead of night, with men, including Lee, swimming across a channel from rubber boats and landing on an offshore island. The Raider Company lost only three men that night and it was considered a very successful endeavor, as the subsequent invasion of Inchon was carried out days later with relatively light casualties.
With the eventual liberation of Seoul, South Korea, the Raider Company received the Presidential Unit Citation.
Lee had many other interesting and hair-raising war incidents that he experienced, including the battle at the Chosin Reservoir. In his later years, he loved to talk about them with anyone who was interested. After many decades, he was reunited with many of his old Army buddies, mainly members of The Raider Company. They held annual reunions for many subsequent years and made wonderful memories together with their wives in different areas of the country. They were bonded for life.
After returning home from Korea, Lee enrolled at SLI (Southwestern Louisiana Institute), now ULL, in Lafayette where he obtained his Petroleum Engineering degree in 3½ years, graduating in 1956 at the top of his class. (These books he did not leave at school!)
He began his 20-year career at Texaco in New Iberia and was transferred to New Orleans for a time. In the 70s and 80s he did engineering consulting work in New Iberia and then finished his career working for Patrick F. Taylor at Taylor Energy in New Orleans, where he was Chief Reservoir Engineer. He retired at the age of 66 in 1996.
Lee married the love of his life, Jean Dautreuil Broussard, in 1959. She was his life-long partner, best friend, travelling companion and dedicated caregiver. Together, they raised four children. Lee was an entertaining storyteller and joke teller. Everyone’s favorite joke, ‘the one about the Silk Suit,’ which he acted out while telling, left his audience in stitches. He was a good dancer and danced with or without a partner when the music, especially Bill Black’s Combo, moved him.
He was an avid fisherman, especially during his retirement years, and made many memories fishing with his sons, his son-in-law, friends and his brother-in-law, Foy Perrin.
Lee was also a prayerful and devoted Catholic who walked multiple times daily for exercise, rain or shine, while praying rosary after rosary for those on his prayer list. He was a compassionate man who could never turn down anyone who asked him for help. He always saw Jesus in their faces. His favorite saying was ‘Trust in the Lord.’
He was a man to be counted on and set a wonderful example of what an honorable man should be. He was loved and admired by his family, his siblings, his friends and was a special uncle to many nieces and nephews. You could always count on his bright smile when you walked in, as he was always glad to see you. He never had an unkind word to say and treated everyone with respect.
May his bright light continue to shine in Heaven, for he will be sorely missed here.
Lee is survived by his wife, Jean D. Broussard; daughter, Danette Lee ‘Dannie’ Broussard Lawson and husband John; sons, Gaston Lyle Broussard and wife Janell Bonin (deceased), Michael Lee ‘Soupy’ Broussard and wife Sheila Laperouse and Jonathan Wade ‘Johnny’ Broussard and wife Claire Miguez.
Lee is also survived by his loving grandchildren: Shena Courville Hall and husband Shawn, Sarah Katelyn Lawson ans fiancé Andrew Gruttadaro, Thomas Lee Broussard and wife Alix, Hannah Broussard Wolf and husband Van, Shelby Elizabeth Broussard, Danielle Andre Broussard and companion Quintin Scrantz, Luke James Broussard and Leigh Rachel Lawson.
He is survived by great-grandchildren, Kaylee Ann Hall, Kayslyn Paige Hall, Alyce Claire Reed, Jeanne Avery Broussard, Samson Gabriel Scrantz and Rowan Vandiver Wolf.
He is also survived by his sisters, Rita Broussard Segura of New Iberia and Juliette ‘Jun’ Broussard Perrin of Chattanooga, Tenn.; a brother, Edmond Ray Broussard Sr. of New Iberia; and sister-in-law, Anne G. Broussard of Loreauville.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Leon Rule Broussard and Isaure Marie Broussard Broussard; brothers, Oswald Joseph Broussard and Lloyd George Broussard; sisters, Camille Marie Broussard, Elsie Broussard Bazer and Lorraine Broussard Breaux.
Pellerin Funeral Home (337-332-2111) is in charge of arrangements.
(Pd.Adv.)