William Kinnison "Kinny" Haddox

William Kinnison “Kinny” Haddox launched his boat into the still waters of eternity on the afternoon of Monday, July 1, 2024. Funeral services celebrating his life will be held at 1:00 P.M., Saturday, July 6, 2024, at North Monroe Baptist Church. Interment will follow immediately after at Hasley Cemetery, under the direction of Mulhearn Funeral Home. The visitation will be held from 11:00 A.M. until the time of service. 

 Kinny was born July 30, 1952, in Columbia, Louisiana as the only child to loving parents, Clayton and Frances Haddox. He lived most of his life in Bastrop, where he thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated small town life. He especially loved Bastrop’s proximity to the vast lakes, rivers, and bayous across northeast Louisiana (especially Bussey Brake and Lake D ’Arbonne), where fish as innumerable as the stars often made their way from his hooks and into hot peanut oil. 

 Kinny's life was defined by his deep faith in Jesus Christ, unwavering love for his family, and passion for the outdoors. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, DiAnne; their son, Adam Haddox and his wife, Lauren of Baton Rouge; his daughter, Julie Davis and her husband, Andy of West Monroe. He’s also survived by the five best “keepers” of his entire life, his grandchildren, William Haddox, Stewart Haddox, Jack Haddox, Evie Davis, and Emma Davis, who will forever remember him as Poppa. 

 After graduating from NLU, Kinny worked as a sports and outdoor writer—eventually serving as Outdoor Editor of the Monroe, LA News-Star. After a few years in the newspaper business plus freelancing for regional and national outdoor magazines he was hired by International Paper for which he managed communications over a span of a couple decades. After retiring from IP, Kinny returned to outdoor writing “full-part-time” through his outdoor blog and as the Editor of Louisiana Sportsman magazine. 

Kinny was deeply involved in his community, coaching youth basketball and baseball for many years in Morehouse Parish. Known for his playful spirit, Kinny enjoyed heckling referees and umpires at all levels of competition. He regularly encouraged his grandsons to be "fast, quick, and in a hurry" on the baseball diamond and across the football field. Kinny equally treasured watching his granddaughters, Evie and Emma, perform their dance routines whether in the living room or on competitive stages; their talent and smiles brought him immense pride and joy.

A testament to the positive impact of his lifetime dedication to fishing, hunting, and meaningful outdoor conservation efforts took shape when Kinny was inducted into 2019’s inaugural class of Louisiana’s Legends of the Outdoors. 

 Kinny loved planning retirement adventures that took he and Dianne from Maine to Key West, FL, and many spots in between. They often opted to take road trips, as driving enabled him to take hours-long detours to sample off the beaten path restaurants across the South. 

 He will be greatly missed for rarely being shy about exercising his sense of humor in nearly any conversation, his pre-season LSU football predictions (which like many of his fishing stories turned out to be mostly true), his vocal disapproval of Mann’s discontinuing its black-grape jelly waggler (according to him was the greatest lure ever invented), frying the largest commercially available turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts, cooking through most of John Folse's wild game recipes, and writing about all things outdoors. 

 Kinny Haddox leaves behind a legacy of faith, love, laughter, and a deep appreciation for God's creation that will continue to inspire those who were blessed to know him. 

 Pallbearers will be his grandsons William, Stewart, and Jack Haddox; David Baer, Dan Turner, and Matthew Turner. 

 Honorary pallbearers are Christopher Brumfield, Jack Brumfield, Paul Laird, Landon Parker, Mike Sumner, Dr. Mike Smith, and Dr. Carl Turpin.