Event founder Broussard dies at 68
Rebecca Broussard of Whitefish, a major figure in the world of equestrian eventing, died Friday from cancer. She was 68.
Friends and family gathered on Christmas Day to honor her life. Public celebrations of her legacy are planned at equestrian competitions in summer 2011.
Broussard was a strong supporter of equestrian eventing in the United States.
She was the founder and namesake of The Event at Rebecca Farm, an equestrian triathlon and World Cup qualifier held annually on the Broussard family land west of Kalispell. The Event will celebrate its 10th anniversary next summer.
The Event regularly attracted hundreds of top riders and thousands of spectators.
"She is, hands down, the most important person in eventing in the Western United States and arguably the most important person in eventing in the entire nation," U.S. Eventing Association President Kevin Baumgardner said in a Chronicle of the Horse article last summer.
Broussard had long talked about her love of helping riders in the West compete on the world stage and her vision included the possibility of bringing riders from Europe to Montana.
Last summer she helped organize a historic flight of 18 horses from the East Coast, including many Olympians, who competed at The Event.
"My mom touched the eventing careers of so many riders," said her daughter, Sarah Broussard-Kelly. "She will truly be missed, but she has left behind a legacy that will live on forever. Not only at The Event at Rebecca Farm, but through all of the lives that she has touched that will keep her and her memory alive. "
Born in Jeanerette, La., on Feb. 17, 1942, Broussard is survived by her husband, Jerome; daughters Rebecca and Sarah; grandchildren Lorraine and Raymond Nicholson and Tommye and Alexander Kelly; brothers Barry Shaw and John Chaney; sisters Rosemary Thomas and Mildred Shaw; uncle Pat Neff; and nieces Jamie Horton, Marcus Shaw and Sam, Emma and Grace Thomas.
Broussard got her nursing degree in the late 1970s from the University of Evansville in Evansville, Ind., and worked as a nurse in Henderson, Ky., until she moved to Anchorage, Ky.
She worked with Hospice when she lived in Mandeville, Jamaica. She was a board member of the U.S. Equestrian Team, a trustee on the Endowment Foundation of the U.S. Eventing Association and a member of the Board of Governors and Executive Committee for the Eventing Association.
Broussard also was a member of PEO, an international association that supports education for women, and was involved in the Flathead Festival, Glacier Chorale & Symphony, Back Country Horsemen, Human Therapy on Horseback, Whitefish Winter Classic, and the local eventing association.
She established a million-dollar scholarship fund at Flathead Valley Community College, was a major supporter of the Kentucky Horse Park, served on the international committee for The World Equestrian Games, and supported dozens of local charities such as Shepherd's Hand and the United Way.
Donations in Broussard's name may be directed to the following charities: U.S. Eventing Association Endowment Trust (USEA, 525 Old Waterford Rd. NW, Leesburg, VA 20176 703-779-0440 www.useventing.com); Shepherd's Hand Clinic (5150 River Lakes Parkway, Whitefish, MT 59937, Attn: Meg Erickson); or Broussard Family Scholarship (Flathead Valley Community College Foundation, 777 Grandview Drive, Kalispell, MT 59901, Attn: Colleen Unterreiner).