James "Jimmy" Cappel

James Patrick "Jimmy" Cappel, 83, of Thibodaux, died Wednesday morning, Feb. 18, 2015, of complications from pneumonia at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. Jimmy was born Dec. 2, 1931, to May Roy Cappel and Ernest Berchmann Cappel in Marksville, the second of six children.
Visitation will be from 8 a.m. until funeral time Friday, March 13, at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral at 721 Canal Blvd. in Thibodaux. A Memorial Mass will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the church. Following the Mass there will be a remembrance celebration at the St. Genevieve Family Center at 815 Barbier Avenue, with Edmund on piano, of course.
He is survived by his daughters, Maroy Merino, of Dallas, Texas, and husband, Bob Merino, Cherry Cappel, of New Orleans, and partner, Beth Blankenship; former spouse, Anne Cappel, of New Orleans; grandchildren, Sarah Merino, Bert Merino and Matthew Merino, of Dallas, Texas; and cherished siblings and their spouses, Teeny Kuhn, of Morristown, New Jersey and husband, Don, Edmund Cappel and Caroline Cappel, both of Thibodaux, Fred Cappel and wife, Sally, and Dick Cappel and wife, Eileen, all of Lake Charles; seven nieces; five nephews; 10 great-nieces; 11 great-nephews and their families; and one irascible Pomeranian, Danny-Boy.
He was predeceased in December of 2013 by his beloved partner, Dr. Myrton Beeler; and by many pets over the decades, most especially his treasured Collie, Noodle.
Jimmy was raised in Marksville and Alexandria, and graduated from Menard High School. He attended Mary Hill Seminary in Pineville, from 1950 to 1951, served in the Fourth U.S. Army Infantry from 1954 to 1956, and studied Art at Louisiana State University from 1956 to 1957.
An artist both by trade and in the kitchen, Jimmy was a quintessential Louisianan, happiest when cooking seafood gumbo for his friends and family or painting scenes of his beloved bayou cypress trees. Though raised in central Louisiana, Jimmy gravitated to New Orleans in the early 1960s. In 1966, he met his partner of 47 years, Myrt Beeler, and they lived for many years in the Faubourg Marigny before retiring to Thibodaux, in 1994. Jimmy loved all celebrations, but especially Mardi Gras, and was a sought-after costume designer. He created his own costume masterpiece for his reign over the 17th Annual Krewe of Petronius Ball Masque in 1978, served as Captain in 1980, and would again don a Mardi Gras crown in 2013 when chosen to reign as King of the Krewe of Venus by his peers at the Lafourche Home for the Aged. A loving son, he spent a great deal of time helping to care for his beloved mother, May, in her later years. He will be long remembered for his vast talent, incredible imagination, infectious laugh and twinkling blue eyes. He leaves a legacy of beautiful artwork hanging in the homes of family and friends throughout the country, as well as a worn wooden box of recipes created, curated and annotated for more than 60 years that will continue to be prepared with him in mind for many decades to come.
Landry's Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.