In Memoriam: Fr. Rex Broussard

Faye Drobnic • September 5, 2021
Father Rex works on an icon of the Archangel Gabriel at the studio in 2019.

Father Rex works on an icon of the Archangel Gabriel at the studio in 2019.

Icon of St. Basil the Great, by the hand of Father Rex Broussard

Icon of St. Basil the Great, by the hand of Father Rex Broussard

In Memoriam: Fr. Rex Broussard

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of Father Rex Broussard, icon painter and the studio’s chaplain. He died on Sunday, August 29, 2021, at the age of 80. 


Father Rex served as a Roman Catholic priest for 54 years in the Diocese of Lafayette. In 1995, he began painting icons. For more than 20 years he regularly attended icon workshops with the Prosopon School of Iconology in Chatawa, Mississippi, and Grand Coteau, Louisiana.


Locally he painted at St. Elizabeth Icon Studio, and he served as chaplain in residence at the studio after his retirement in 2018.


His large icon of Saint Basil the Great, pictured below, is in Saint Basil Catholic Church in Judice, Louisiana. 


Father Broussard served as pastor at various parishes in the Diocese of Lafayette, and he was the former Brigade Chaplain of the National Guard 256th Brigade. (Read more about his parish activities and military career in his full obituary in The Daily Advertiser newspaper.)


Funeral services were held on September 3 at the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist. The Most Reverend J. Douglas Deshotel, Bishop of Lafayette, celebrated the funeral Mass, and the Reverend Michael Russo served as homilist. The funeral Mass was recorded and can be viewed on the Diocese YouTube channel. Prayer cards for Father Rex are available from the studio upon request; email fayemdrobnic@gmail.com.


Father Rex will be dearly missed by the iconographers who knew him and loved him. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. Memory eternal!

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