James C. Kirkendall

Coach James C. Kirkendall, 75, of Lake Charles passed away Wednesday, December 4, 2019 in a Houston Hospital.

Coach Kirkendall was born in Columbia, SC and lived most of his life in the Lake Charles area. He was a 1962 Graduate of Sulphur High School and played football and received his B.S. Degree from Northeastern State College now the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Coach Kirkendall was elected to the Gulf States Conference Football Team. He also received his Master’s Degree from McNeese State University. His forty-six-year Coaching career included Kinder High School 1968-1980 where he was voted SWLA Basketball Coach of the Year in 1974. He went on to Coach at Sam Houston High School from 1980-1986, Barbe High School from 1986-2001 and St. Louis Catholic High School from 2001-2015.

He is survived by his wife of fifty years, Monica “Pie” Kirkendall; son, Jay Kirkendall; daughters, Joy Kirkendall Foolkes and husband Alan, and Jenni Kirkendall Amy and husband Mitchell all of Lake Charles; grandsons Michael James and Connor Alan Foolkes; sister, Katherine Thomson of Sierra Vista, AZ; brother John Kirkendall and wife Janelle of Las Vegas, NV; favorite cousin, Paul Anderson of West Jordan, UT and a host of nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00AM, Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church. Monsignor Daniel Torres will officiate. Burial will be in Consolata Cemetery under the direction of Johnson Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 3:00PM until 9:00PM, Monday, with a Rosary being recited at 6:00PM in the funeral home. Visitation will continue from 8:30AM until 9:30AM, Tuesday, in the funeral home.

Serving as Pallbearers will be Mike Johns, Tommy Johns, Wayne Cespiva, Ted Nixon, Joe Crawford, and Nic LaBarbera. Honorary Pallbearers will be Former Head Coaches and Assistant Coaches that Coach Kirkendall served with.

The family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church, Christ The King Catholic Church, the Memorial Hermann Mischer Neuroscience Institute or the Parkinson’s Foundation.