George P. Broussard

George Patout Broussard, Sr. (September 17, 1916 - August 30, 1977), was a decorated World War II United States Army officer, the son of a United States senator, and a veterinarian from his native New Iberia, Louisiana, who conducted important research on the diseases of anaplasmosis and brucellosis.
Background
Broussard is descended from an influential family of Iberia Parish in the sugar-producing region of South Louisiana. His parents were Senator Edwin Sidney Broussard, I, and the former Marie Clair Patout (1878-1945), for whom he and his oldest brother received their middle names. He was a paternal nephew of U.S. Senator Robert F. Broussard of New Iberia and a paternal grandson of Jean Dorville Broussard (1832-1920) and the former Anastasie Elizadie Gondoulin (1834-1898), both of New Iberia. He had five siblings, the oldest of whom, Felix Patout Broussard (1906-1982), was the manager of the St. Mary Sugar Cooperative in Jeanerette in Iberia Parish. The youngest sibling was the New Iberia farmer Eugene D. Broussard, Sr. (1917-2008).
The Broussards consider themselves Cajun, a reference to their Acadian heritage. While family members are most prevalent in Vermilion Parish, there remains a significant concentration as well in Iberia, Lafayette,Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, and Orleans parishes.
Broussard was educated in Washington, D.C., during the time his father was a senator, and then New Iberia Senior High School and Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, where he obtained his D.V.M. degree.
On June 21, 1947, he married his surviving widow, the former Flora Therese Schwing (born December 1923) of New Iberia, the daughter of John Elmer Schwing (1977-1946), an attorney and banker, and the former Anna Blanchet (1890-1981). There are six Broussard sons: George P., Jr. (born 1949), Edwin S., III (born 1951), Thomas S. (born 1953), Daniel S. (born 1954), Kenneth J. S. (born 1961), and Benedict Jacques (born 1963).
Because of his work with anaplasmosis and brucellosis, Broussard became a world-renowned cattle practitioner and Albert Alonzo Woodburn (1921-1999), a native of Tampa, Florida, and a sergeant in World War II. The three did not consider themselves competitors. In time, after Broussard's death the nature of the business shifted mostly to house pets, rather than commercial animals, for which there was less need because of tractors and other technological advancements in agriculture.
Dr. Broussard was affiliated with the American and Louisiana veterinary medical associations and was a member of the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Board of Examiners. He was president of the Iberia Cattleman's Association, the vice president of the Attakapas Historical Association, and active in the Boy Scouts of America.

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