Serge Noel Rambaud

Serge Noel Rambaud, a 35-year Houston resident, lost his battle to leukemia on August 12, 2021 at age 74. Serge was born on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1946, in Sainte-Foy-La Grande, France to Jean Joseph Rambaud and Jeanne Yvette Majou Rambaud. He had four siblings, Guy Rambaud of Bordeaux, France, Evelyne Rambaud of Bordeaux, Rolande Michel Rambaud, of Saint-Martin-Petit, France and the late Yolande Rambaud Germain.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years Martha Brookover Rambaud, his daughters, Chantal Rambaud and Elise Rambaud Marrion, son-in-law Jack Marrion III, and his grandsons, Gibson Marrion and Nicholas Marrion, all of Houston.

Serge was raised in the farming and wine-producing communities in the Gironde, a southwestern region of France. He was educated and earned a baccalauréat in La Réole, France where he would stay at boarding school during the week and return to the country to work the farm and vineyards with his family on the weekends. During school, Serge enjoyed science and was adept at languages, eventually becoming fluent in French, English and Spanish. He was an avid sportsman, playing soccer, rugby, and rowing. Serge was no stranger to mischief with his siblings and was a bit of a daredevil. His sister, Evelyn, recalled him plunging into the Garrone River from a bridge 20 meters high.

He joined the French Navy in 1964 and attended the Naval School at Rochefort. He served as an electronics technician and was stationed in Saint-Raphaël in the French Riviera. Long before he began his career in sales, Serge knew how to make a deal. Unlike his fellow shipmen, Serge was never a smoker and was known to trade his cigarette rations for extra rum rations. After his service, Serge was hired by Compagnie Générale de Géophysique (CGG), which launched a 50-year career in the geophysical field, specifically international sales of seismic exploration and carbon detection systems.

Over the course of his career, he earned countless stamps in his passport. He worked on seismic crews in Saudi Arabia, parts of Africa, in the Amazon, the arctic and more. Later in life, he frequently traveled on business to Russia, China, India, and his sales territories periodically spanned Latin America, Europe and Africa. With CGG, Serge moved to Calgary, Canada and then to Denver, Colorado in 1974. Upon arrival in the United States, he met Martha Brookover, an administrative assistant at the CGG Denver office, who was sent to pick him up from the airport. It was a fitting meeting place for a couple who would travel the world together.

Serge and Martha were united in marriage on October 4, 1975, in Denver. Despite the initial language barrier, Serge was quickly embraced by Martha’s parents, her brother, four sisters and their spouses and nieces and nephews. He was equally adored by Martha’s dog, Olive, a German Shepherd/Collie mix, who accompanied them on their honeymoon to Breckenridge. Serge and Martha loved spending time in the mountains hiking and skiing. While in Denver, Serge made many lifelong friends through work, his interests in hunting, tennis, racquetball and windsurfing.

They spent a lifetime together upholding their vows, through sickness and in health, and served as a model for a lifetime commitment to love and honor each other. And just as the lyrics of their John Denver wedding song foretold – “Follow me where I go, what I do, who I know, make it part of you to be a part of me,” – Serge and Martha held each other’s hand and followed each other all their years together.

Serge and Martha grew their family with the birth of their eldest daughter, Chantal Rambaud in 1976. They moved to Missouri City outside Houston for a couple years. Serge briefly became the owner and captain of a sailboat, named The Chantal, which he sailed around Galveston Bay through storms and choppy waters, despite the seasick objections from Martha. They moved back to Denver and their second daughter, Elise Rambaud, was born in 1980.

In 1986, the family moved to Houston, Texas. Colleagues and clients may remember Serge from his work with Geosource/Western Geophysical/Halliburton Geophysical Services. Serge later took a job with Syntron, and finally with Fairfield Industries, where he retired in 2015 as a Systems Sales Manager and Business Development for NodalSeismic. He was a member of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAEG) and a frequent attendee of Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) conferences.

Serge was a gifted salesman and storyteller, with an open, easy manner. He was known to casually drop hard-to-believe, but true stories into conversation, “Oh, that time I was in a plane crash in the Sahara Desert in Mauritania,” or “That time I was close enough to take a photo of a polar bear in the arctic … when I was working on a live volcano off the coast of Africa … when I was in the Bolivian Amazon … when I got hypothermia from a whitewater rafting in Canada.” Martha was his constant companion on his travels for both business and pleasure. Before retiring, Serge and Martha lived in Céret, France for two years. Well into their 70's Serge and Martha were still traversing the globe, with a recent trip to the Amazon and Galapagos Islands.

His international upbringing and proclivity for language made him curious and at ease with clients and acquaintances from the scores of cultures and countries he visited. Despite the distance, Serge spoke to his family in France nearly every week and visited them almost every year. After nearly 30 years of living in the United States, Serge became an American citizen. He treasured and proudly displayed an American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol on the day he was sworn in. Still, he would sing the French National Anthem, “Allons enfants de la patrie…” in his best exaggerated baritone voice every July 14th on Bastille Day.

Though he never owned another boat, Serge rarely passed an opportunity to board watercraft large and small – kayaking and canoeing with his grandson, sail boating on Lake Granby, offshore fishing trips, and he had the honor of taking an aircraft carrier “Tiger Cruise” with his nephew in the United States Navy.

Serge earned a reputation as a good shot and was frequently sought as a teammate for clay shooting tournaments. He was a member of a hunting lease with former colleagues in Runge, Texas, where he was admired for his bird and turkey hunting, but more for his contributions to the hunting camp meals. He was skilled at preparing doves over the campfire and introduced his fellow hunters to a particularly stout garlic French vinaigrette, Roquefort and brie cheeses and of course, bottles of red wine. Serge always held out hope for the ultimate hunting canine companion. He and Martha took pointers, cow dogs and various sporting dog breeds into their home and hearts over the years, but only one would hunt. His daughters were equally as hopeless in the outdoors, but Serge shared his love of hunting with his grandson, Gibson.

In his West Houston community, Serge made friends playing tennis and walking his dog through the neighborhood. Over the last 13 years, Elliott, the family Weimaraner/Lab mix was always at his side.

Like any Frenchman, Serge loved gathering with friends and family around the table. He had a taste for fine wine and cuisine, but he was never a snob. He was quoted as saying, “I’ve never had a bad chardonnay.” He would joke that he would disown his daughters if he caught them drinking wine from a box, but later recanted the statement. A birthday dinner celebration that began among his French friends in Calgary became an annual tradition in the Rambaud house. With few exceptions, Serge celebrated every Christmas Eve birthday by preparing a multi-course feast with lobster stew as the headliner. Serge was accompanied by an all-male kitchen crew while the women enjoyed conversation and cocktails. This feast set the stage for decades of memories with friends, family and neighbors.

Serge will be cherished as a generous, affectionate and devoted father, father-in-law and grandfather. He was a firm believer in learning by doing and seeing, so he supplemented his daughters’ education and enhanced their world view by taking them on many of his travels. He also supported them in pursuing educational opportunities abroad. He always pushed them to keep learning, do their best and stay open to new experiences. When he wasn’t traveling, Serge never missed a theater performance, band concert, award ceremony or graduation. He continued to cheer on his grandsons’ sports, activities and accomplishments. His kindness and sense of humor will be missed.

His wishes were to have his ashes returned to France pending health, safety and travel restrictions. Memorial services in Houston are pending.

The Rambauds thank extended family and Serge’s colleagues, friends and neighbors for their outpouring of support and condolences. They also thank the nurses and staff at Houston Methodist for Serge’s care over four years, and the staff at Houston Hospice in his final days. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Houston Hospice and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.