Edward R. Badeaux Jr.
1926-2015
Edward Raoul Badeaux Jr., 89, of Houston, TX, died May 10th, 2015. Son of Edward R. Badeaux Sr. and Mary Lelia Forman Badeaux, he died peacefully in his sleep, of natural causes, in Bothell, WA. He is survived by his sons Daniel Badeaux and Joel Badeaux, his ex-wife Anne Badeaux, his grandsons Cedar Russell and Sol Badeaux, his cousins Nancy Mariduena and William Forman Jr., his brother-in-law Robert 'Mack' McCormick (husband of sister Mary McCormick, deceased), his niece Susannah McCormick Nix, and his grandniece Emma Nix.
After 89 beautiful and creative years on this earth, Ed will be greatly missed by those who knew him. Born and raised in Houston, TX, Ed graduated from Lamar High School and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, serving during the latter part of WWII. After completing an English degree at the University of Houston, he began pursuing his passions for music, teaching, radio, photography, and all things creative.
Ed was a radio DJ at KXYZ in Houston in the 1950s, also teaching guitar and playing banjo in the Houston roots music group, the Tex-I-An Boys (now in the Smithsonian Folkways catalog) with John A. Lomax Jr. and others. He produced Hootenanny folk and blues concerts in Houston in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including performances by Houston blues legend Lightnin' Hopkins and Texas blues artist Mance Lipscomb. He also took some of the most famous Lightnin' Hopkins album cover photographs, adorning Hopkins albums produced by his brother-in-law Robert 'Mack' McCormick.
In the 1960s Ed married, raising two sons with his wife Anne in New York City, while working as the editor of 'Sing Out!', an influential folk and blues music magazine published by Irwin Silber. During this period he got to spend time with folk music legend Pete Seeger and his family in upstate New York, which had a tremendous impression on him. He also adored spending summers as a camp director at Blueberry Cove summer camp in Maine—hiking, backpacking, and waking sleepy campers to the sound of banjo and guitar music.
In the mid-1970s he returned to Houston and returned to radio—this time on KPFT, with programs 'Folksay' and 'Nightsong'. He continued to perform locally, teaching guitar, and also taking up keyboard and synthesizer. He also pursued a passion in music recording, recording local folk artists, including a young Lucinda Williams, who later became an acclaimed major label artist.
Although Ed focused more on family matters than the creative arts in his later years, he remained creative—even at the age of 82 recording new 'Nightsong' radio podcasts on his beloved Apple Macintosh computer for family and friends.
On Friday June 12th Ed's ashes will be taken to rest in Lake Lawn Cemetery in Metairie, Louisiana, next to his sister and parents. A remembrance will be held in Houston on Saturday June 13th at 6pm and the home of Susannah McCormick Nix. For more information, please call Joel Badeaux at 281-222-7573. For those wishing to make a donation in his honor, please consider a donation or membership to the Houston Folklore Society or KPFT Pacifica radio 90.1 FM.



Published in Houston Chronicle on June 13, 2015
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