LAFOURCHE and TERREBONNE PARISHES, LA. 

Obituary for LANDRY, DONALD 

Submitted by: Louis Lavedan. 

Source: The Daily Comet, Lafourche Parish La. and Houma Today, Terrebonne 
Parish, La.

Published: Thursday, August 12, 2010 

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LANDRY, DONALD 

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Donald P. Landry, 69, a native of New Orleans and a lifelong resident of Houma, 
an environmentalist, conservationist, family man and former member of the 
Terrebonne Parish Police Jury, died peacefully Monday, Aug. 9, 2010, in Houma 
following a year long battle with liver and kidney disease.

There will be a time of visitation for family and friends from 6 to 9 p.m. 
Sunday at Chauvin Funeral Home and from 9 a.m. to funeral time Monday at St. 
Bernadette Catholic Church. Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at the church. 
Landry is survived by his wife, the former Judith "Judy" Atkins of Texas City, 
Texas; five children, Daniel Landry and wife, Rebecca, Regina Landry Thibodeaux 
and husband, Lonnie, Kurt Landry and wife, Laura, Joel Landry and wife, 
Michelle, and Jane-Clair Landry Kerin and husband, Steve; seven grandchildren, 
Hayden Landry, Kaitlyn, Kyler and Landon Thibodeaux, ReBecca Landry, and Peyton 
and Sarah Landry; one great-granddaughter, Davanee Siele; one brother, Gordon 
Landry of Houma; three sisters, Patricia Landry Armand of Slidell, Loretta 
Landry Hetherwick of Lafayette, and Arlene Landry of Portland, Ore.; and 
numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Nolan and Ruby Landry.

Landry grew up with a deep appreciation for the beauty and productivity of the 
coastal wetlands of south Louisiana and Terrebonne Parish. An avid fisherman and 
sportsman all his life, he recognized early the myriad of destructive forces 
laying waste to the fabric of the coastal wetlands. It was his love for these 
natural resources that shaped his 8-year tenure on the Police Jury, the 
predecessor of the present Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government.

A two-time recipient of the prestigious National Wildlife Federation 
Conservationist of the Year award, Landry devoted his public life to 
environmental consciousness, coastal preservation and restoration. Before his 
terms on the Terrebonne Parish Police Jury, he formed the South Louisiana 
Environmental Council, one of the first environmental action groups in South 
Louisiana. Legendary sea explorer Jacques Cousteau once called on Landry for 
advice and input on his studies of Louisiana's massive but disappearing 
wetlands.

In his private life, he was equally devoted to Judy, his loving wife of 49 
years, his five children, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild; and a 
myriad of friends and acquaintances from all walks of life.

Born in New Orleans in 1940, Landry was a life-long resident of Houma and worked 
with his father at the former Landry's Drugstore on East Main St. He graduated 
from St. Francis de Sales Boys School in Houma in 1958, attended Loyola 
University in New Orleans and received his pharmaceutical diploma from the 
University of Houston School of Pharmacy in 1963. He worked as a pharmacist for 
47 years; his last day worked was less than two weeks before he died.

Landry is credited with taking a hands-on approach to parish finances as 
chairman of the Police Jury's Budget and Finance Committee. He studied and 
understood the parish budget as much or better than any of his predecessors; and 
he used this knowledge to obtain funding and support for conservation and 
community projects.

In the early 1980s, before the high level twin span bridges were built over the 
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in downtown Houma, Landry pushed the U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers to require that all bridges over waterways in Terrebonne Parish 
remain open to vehicular traffic during peak traffic hours. Long time Houma 
residents will remember the daily traffic jams and insufferable waiting that 
occurred frequently before the corps finally agreed to his proposal.

Those efforts still benefit motorists today, even though the old draw bridges 
downtown have been replaced by the high-level twin spans. Other bridges that 
open for boat traffic must remain closed during peak vehicular hours. He also 
recognized the need and was instrumental in getting sidewalks on the high rise 
bridges that cross the Intracoastal waterway after taking daily counts of the 
pedestrian traffic that passed in front of Landry's Drugstore on Main Street.

He also worked to establish and maintain public parks throughout the parish and 
was instrumental in providing financial support for the annual Christmas Parade. 
He helped with the formation of the Farmer's Market in Houma and was a key 
advocate and public voice of the oral history exhibit at Bayou Terrebonne 
Waterlife Museum with local filmmaker Glen Pitre.

As an avid outdoorsman and fisherman, he was a member of the Terrebonne Black 
Bass Club and won the Grand Isle Redfish Rodeo for 3 consecutive years among 
many other fishing awards and trophies. He believed in staying physically fit, 
and having fun doing it. Landry was an annual participant in many local pirogue 
races, winning first place many times. He loved paddling through the dense 
bottomland hardwood forests near Gibson, where he knew the exact location of the 
few colossal cypress trees left standing after the clear cutting practices of 
the early 20th century. Long-timers at the YMCA remember Landry's daily swimming 
routine, where he enjoyed the exuberance of a miles-long swim in the Olympic 
pool on an almost daily basis.

His life's work on environmental preservation in coastal Louisiana was the basis 
of the fictional character "P. Donald 'Duck' Landrieu", a.k.a. "Dr. Duck" in 
novelist Ken Wells' Cajun thriller, "Crawfish Mountain". As in real life, 
Landry's character led the efforts against big oil and its shady polluters to 
expose chemical dumping in fragile wetlands.

Landry was an organ donor. His eyes may someday provide the gift of sight to a 
blind person.

The family is asking that in lieu of flowers, that contributions be made to one 
of the following charities: Smile Train, www.smiletrain.org, Heifer 
International, www.heifer.org, Doctors without Borders, 
www.doctorswithoutborders.org, National Wildlife Federation, www.nwf.org or the 
National Audubon Society, www.audubon.org.

Chauvin Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

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