Larry Joseph Melancon

Larry Joseph Melancon, age 65 passed away on Thursday, March 25, 2021. He was born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana on August 7, 1955. He was preceded in death by his mother, Winona (Carroll) Champagne and father, Vermillian Melancon. Larry is survived by his wife of seven years, Denise Melancon; his two children, Lance (Amy) Melancon, Louisville, Kentucky, and Heather (Jeff) Schapansky, Tyler, Texas; stepson, Keelan Allen, Annapolis, Maryland; his two sisters, Judy (Harold) Theriot and Vicki (Butch) Guchereau; three grandchildren, Caleb and Nathan Schapansky and Lawrence Melancon; and a host of family and friends.

The past week was both emotionally exhausting and beautiful to be with someone of infinite value. The aftermath of his stroke, paralysis and vascular dementia slowly took a toll that turned to darkness but leading to a much better place, a place where there is no longer confusion or pain. He was a person who was easy to love and most of all my best friend. I feel a great loss but also immense joy for knowing this wonderful man I called my husband. Before you begin reading, I would like for you to close your eyes and recall the last time you saw Larry. Celebrate his memory, not mourn it. This is how he will want you to remember him.

Larry's greatest joy in life was his Grandchildren, Nathan and Caleb. Unfortunately, he will never know the newest addition, Lawrence (L.J.). He was always so excited and over the moon when the two older grandchildren came to visit. He would take them fishing and to the barn to ride the pony. I remember the Christmas when he gave his Grandboys their first BB Gun. It was the start of anxiously waiting until they were old enough to take them deer hunting. Which was one of his regrets since having the stroke. He loved his son and daughter, Lance and Heather, one of Larry's joys in life were his children.


Larry lived life to the fullest. His love of horses began at the age of nine, riding the bush tracks in Cajun country that would lead him to the major tracks across the country. His riding career spanned over forty years. Larry was leading apprentice jockey with the most wins nationally in 1972 and won 941 races at Churchill Downs and a career of 2,857 of lifetime wins.

But Larry's life was much more than just race riding. His love of fishing and hunting and food is equally compared to the love of his family and friends and God. When we married in 2014, I would hear over the years, NEVER from Larry, but from people who wanted to share a story with me about when Larry helped them at a time of need. Taking stable workers to the grocery store or to pick up medicine, needing a ride because they didn't have a car. Taking someone in need to the track kitchen for breakfast. Oaklawn Park had a soft spot in Larry's heart, and it was there I heard the most giving of stories. Many people told me how he would put a little extra in their pockets to make life a little easier for them. I'm sure there countless of other people he helped, none of us will ever know about. That was Larry's way, he didn't need for us to know. He knew. The Lord knew. That was all that mattered. Larry walked the walk!

One of his favorite bible verses: Ephesians 4:29: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs."

In the two years of marriage, before the stroke, we lived life to the fullest. We didn't let any grass grow under our feet. We honeymooned in Niagara Falls, for his sixty birthday we went to Italy, and spent Christmas in the Bahamas. He taught me to dove hunt in the wheat fields of Kansas and deer hunt in Kentucky. Hiked mountains and slide down waterfalls in North Carolina. We attended the Daytona 500 and the Bristol car race in Tennessee. Spent a long weekend in Nashville at the Opryland Hotel, and enjoyed the beaches in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. My enjoyment for plays and theatre performances also became his; Shakespeare In the Park, My Old Kentucky Home Musical, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Mamma Mia, and Chicago, were all we got to share together. High volume of noise became an issue for him since the stroke, no longer able to attend. The year before his stroke we went to Peru and hiked Machu Picchu. Most of all we spent many nights with family and friends cooking and just hanging out on the back deck. There were always friends and dinner parties. We would have a nightly bourbon together while cooking and listening to Zydeco music. He loved teaching Keelan how to cook. Showing him how to bread and fry frog legs, stew ducks in brown gravy, how to sauté shrimp and season crawfish. But most of all Keelan learned the importance and understanding where Old Bay fit in his culinary world. For me, my morning coffee will never be the same. EVERY morning over coffee, we would play three games of backgammon. Never the best of two out of three… it didn't matter, always three games. He didn't know how to play but he caught on quick, because of his competitive nature he wasn't going to allow me having a slight advance over him, winning all the time. This morning ritual is one of the things I will miss the most. Floyd's Fork will never be same either. Larry and I would ride our bikes there two or three days a week. We would ride for hours and many, many miles. Never in a hurry but enjoying the outdoors. It was on our bucket list to ride the whole 60 miles of continuous trail when it would be completed but unfortunately Larry had his stroke four months before it was finally finished. Floyd's Fork will never be the same without Larry peddling beside me.

Since the stroke, we weren't going to let the circumstance of life hold him down. We drove to Memphis to watch the ducks at the Peabody Hotel, drove to Hot Springs to visit with dear friends. We went to North Carolina and had Thanksgiving at the Biltmore, trout fished at Clam Lake, Wisconsin, wheeled all over Washington D.C., and to Annapolis, Maryland to watch the Navy football game and tour the Naval Academy, having lunch in the Officers Club. Last year we went to his hometown to spend time with his sisters in Breaux Bridge. We ate crawfish and they shared stories and reminisced about their childhood. The last trip he took, was to Michigan to fish trout in Lake Huron, finding a boat that was handicapped accessible. Keelan helped him cast his line and reel in his catch. It was one of the last times we saw a huge smile on his face doing what he loved. We spent a few days at Mackinaw Island and even got him in the Ester Williams swimming pool. Since returning he slowly declined physically hardly leaving the house.

If he cooked for you, that meant he really, really liked you. This was his way of showing love. The Cajun way!! You can't think of Larry without thinking of food…. Just the way he would want it to be.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to either of these two charities that were very important to him and closest to his heart.

The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation
40 E. 52nd Street
New York, New York 10022

Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund
PO Box 803
Elmhurst, Illinois 60126

No memorial is planned at this time.

The funeral will be a private grave site burial with family. To leave a special message for the funeral family, please use the "Share Memories" button.