Myrtle Helen Smith Broussard

Myrtle Helen Smith Broussard, 93, of Orange, Texas, passed away on Wednesday, August 26, 2009, at Answered Prayer Living Facility in Orange, Texas.

Visitation will be held at Claybar Funeral Home in Orange on Sunday, August 30, 2009, from 5:00-8:00 p.m. A Rosary will be recited at 6:00 p.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, August 31, 2009, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Orange, with Reverend Thomas Phelan serving as celebrant.

Burial will follow at St. Mary's Cemetery.

Myrtle was born on August 25, 1916, to Val and Florence O'Neil Smith, in Franklin, Louisiana. Later as a child she moved to Lafayette, Louisiana.

Myrtle was a registered nurse. She did her nurse's training at St. Mary's Hospital in Port Arthur, Texas. After she married, she moved to Orange and worked at the Lutcher Hospital. Myrtle had a gift of reciting rhymes and riddles and signing her favorite songs to all her family and friends. She made everyone laugh and was truly an inspiration to everyone she met. Myrtle was a very loving, caring, and giving person.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank L. Broussard; parents; nine siblings; and her infant grandson, Tommy Ross, Jr.

Those left to cherish her memories are her children, Pat Broussard and his wife, Jonnie, of Orange, Texas, Sandy Broussard and Fay Nell Broussard of Ocala, Florida and Jan Broussard Ross of Tyler, Texas; grandchildren, Patrick Broussard and his wife, Brandi, of Vidor, Texas, Lisa Fisher and her husband, Joshua, of Friendswood, Texas, Jennifer Bean of Tyler, Texas, and Wesley Ross of Lindale, Texas; great- grandchildren, Chase, Annabelle, and Brodie Fisher, Brailyne and Peyton Broussard and Kaylee and Mackenzie Reynolds.

We would like to thank her first caregivers, Dell Chambers and Lucille Morris, for the special love, care and friendship they gave to our mother. Also, a big thank you to Joan Williams and the staff at Answered Prayer Living Facility, especially Hazel, and to the nurses and staff at Southeast Texas Hospice, who gave our mother all the special love, care and friendship in her final years. They are all "Angels sent from Heaven."

Serving as Pallbearers will be Patrick Broussard, Wesley Ross, Scotty Hall, Joshua Fisher, Chase Fisher, Chris Wright and James Broussard.

Memorial contributions may be sent, in memory of Myrtle Broussard, to St. Francis of Assisi Church renovation fund 4300 Meeks Dr., Orange, Texas 77632; or to the Southeast Texas Hospice, 912 W. Cherry St., Orange, Texas 77630.