In Memory of Sylvester Q. "Skip" Breard, Jr.
1952–2004
Sylvester Q
"Skip" Breard, Jr., 51, was a native of Monroe, Louisiana. Skip,
a direct descendent of Jean Louis Alexander de Breard, one of the founders
of Monroe, died in Houston, Texas at his home on August 23, 2004. He was
a graduate of Neville High School and from Northeast Louisiana University
(now the University of Louisiana at Monroe) where he received a B.S. in
1975 and an M.S. in 1978, both in geology. Skip was also an Adjunct Professor .
His professional experience encompassed a span from 1979 until his death. During this period, he was employed by Amoco Production Company in New Orleans as a Paleontologist (1979-1982), Senior Paleontologist (1982-1985), and as a Staff Paleontologist (195-1989). In 1989, he joined British Petroleum Exploration in Houston, Texas, working as a Senior Biostratigrapher until 1992. From 1992 to 1993, he was a consulting paleontologist with Paleo Control in Houston. In the summer of 1993, he co-founded Applied Biostratigraphix in Houston with his long time friends Michael J. Nault and Arden D. Callender where he worked until his death. The firm's clients included fourteen of the top oil companies in the United States. Besides the Gulf Coast Region, his expertise included the Caribbean, Mexico, Sharjah, Nigeria, Egypt, Bulgaria, Romania and Ecuador.
Skip was an active member of several professional societies including the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), Gulf Coast Section of SEPM, North American Micropaleontology Section of SEPM, Houston Geological Society, the Paleontological Research Institute, the Cushman Foundation, Tertiary Research Group and the Houston Gem and Mineral Society. He served as GCSSEPM Treasurer from 1986-1987, Vice President in 1997, and as the GCSSEPM Judging and Awards Chairman for the 1991 GCAGS Convention in Houston. He authored and coauthored 57 papers and abstracts on a variety of topics including Eocene vertebrates, paleoecology, paleoclimatology, and applied foraminiferal biostratigraphy. Skip was a recipient of the GCSSEPM Best Published Paper Award in 1993 (2nd place), 1995 (1st place), and 1996 (1st place).
Skip enjoyed collecting books, especially those on paleontology, collecting vertebrate fossils and was an avid stamp collector. He also enjoyed leading field trips to collect rocks and fossils. Skip was well liked and highly respected by his peers. He is survived by his wife, Patricia and daughter, Bonnie Katie (16), his father Sylvester, Sr., and step-mother Lillian, brother Robert "Cully" Breard, sister-in-law and nephew, Mark and Dorinda and Sean Breard, brother David R. Breard, and mother-in-law, Bonnie White. Skip's mother, Nancy Culpepper Breard and brother, Gregory C. Breard, predeceased him.