Richard James Dardenne

"Richard James Dardenne died peacefully on June 19, 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas where he resided. He was 62. He was a graduate of Episcopal High School where he was named Outstanding Basketball Player and Outstanding Track Athlete. He attended LSU where he was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity. Richard loved God, his family, basketball and LSU, though some in jest would suggest not necessarily in that order. He established a successful career in sales management for major sporting goods companies before opting to pursue his calling and true passion as a high school coach and athletic director. In his first year as a basketball coach he had only six players, his "Dirty Half Dozen", but they were the foundation for a program that he led to four state championships. His team won their first championship in 2002, then two more in a row, culminating with him being named the New Balance National Coach of the Year in 2004. Medical issues forced his retirement during another championship run in 2008. He also coached a state championship track team in 2000. He demanded passion and expected excellence, but he always competed and handled winning with modesty and class. He was more proud of the young men he helped mold than the trophies he won. The only thing he did better than coaching young men was being a loving husband and doting father. He will be sorely missed as a man of steadfast faith, boundless joy and an endless source of clean Cajun jokes. His complaints were few and the model life he led inspired those who played for him and those who knew and loved him. He is survived by his faithful and caring wife of 36 years, Marilyn Brown Dardenne; his sons, Richard James Dardenne, Jr. (Ricky) and Cory Leigh Dardenne and Cory's wife, Katie; the stepchildren he loved as his own, Thomas Faulkenberry and Sarah Chappell and her husband, Jay; his grandchildren, Braden, Finley, Tate and Will Faulkenberry and Abbey Jo and Zoë Moyar; his brother and sister-in-law, Jay and Cathy Dardenne, as well as the hundreds of former players across the country and the globe who are his legacy. He was preceded in death by his parents, Tonet and Johnny Dardenne; his grandparents, Nathan and Ula Coronna Abramson and Teakle Wallis (T.W.) and Esther Cohn Dardenne. Pallbearers will be his nephews, John and Matt Dardenne, his brother-in-law, Jim Brown; Randy Young; Bob McGill; and Kevin Goll. Visitation will be on Saturday, June 30 at Rabenhorst Funeral Home 825 Government Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana from noon to 2:00 P.M., followed immediately by a celebration of life at the funeral home. A private family burial will follow at the Jewish Cemetery in Lafayette, Louisiana. The family requests that donations be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the American Kidney Fund or a charity of your choice. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." II Timothy 4:7