David Leinard Thibodaux

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep My saying, he shall never see death” John 8:51

David made this to his personal Facebook page a few years ago to his family and friends:

“Some day you will hear that David Thibodaux is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment, I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all, gone out of this old world into a house that is immortal, a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body like unto his own glorious body. I was born of the flesh in 1952. I was born of the Spirit in 1982. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever.”

David was born in Baytown, Texas to Edith Zebelene Hammonds (d) and Huey Matthew Thibodaux (d). David was one of 8 children: Melanie, Michael (d), Cathy Ann, (David), Toni Kaye (d), Douglas, Roger (d), and Melissa. David is preceded in death by his son, Jason Douglas. He is survived by his wife, Kathy Bess of 53 years and their children, Joseph David and Kerri Bess along with grandchildren, Brittany, Amber, Christopher, Thomas and Rhys.

David and Kathy met in Rockport, Texas where Kathy picked him up hitchhiking along with their friends on the way to the beach to surf. Five weeks later they were married. It would have been sooner; but no one would marry them so quickly. David proposed to Kathy in what she felt like was the most romantic place where the moonlight simmered on the pond of water and where ducks were swimming and the cattails were gently blowing in the breeze. It was only months later in the daylight, did Kathy find out that her special night was held at the city’s sewage treatment plant.

David was a hard worker and even went to work 2 hours after the wedding. He had numerous construction skill sets and the family moved many times following the seasons of work in order for him to provide for them. He started as a concrete mason, became a journeyman roofer and a union carpenter. His work took him from Texas, to Florida and to NM. He worked at Cape Canaveral on buildings near the Space Shuttle, built crematories, and even disarmament chambers on an Air Force base. Family members can drive around Albuquerque and recognize the commercial buildings that he worked on or the subdivisions that he started.

David loved to fish, he had an opportunity to go on 45-day trips in the Atlantic with his friends on a commercial fishing boat for shrimp and scallops. That move across state lines labeled the family as migrants and for over two years, they endured much prejudice and discrimination. He had several brushes with death on the sea. Once he was sun-poisoned, stung by a fish that almost took his life and finally with a friend, lost power on the boat and were missing at sea until the Coast Guard rescued them and towed them back to shore.

In 1996, David knelt at the altar of the church and cried out to the Lord, “Here I am, Lord, take all of me or none of me”. That prayer began a long journey of ministry for the Thibodaux’s including their first in Missouri at Child Evangelism Fellowship. In 2009, in Albuquerque, NM, David became an ordained minister. He pastored 3 Native American churches, including one on the Navajo Reservation, a Spanish Church, a neighborhood church at a mobile home park and in a church in SW Albuquerque. Except for one church, which gave him a small monthly stipend, David never received a salary from any of the churches that he pastored. David knew that the Lord would provide as he was called and was equipped for the ministry. David was an Evangelist and shared the Gospel everywhere he went. He had the honor of baptizing four of his five grandchildren.

He touched the lives of many people in all walks of life. He will be truly missed by those who loved and knew him. He posted almost daily on social media a devotion, a prayer or a Scripture. His last post was just four weeks before his death which included the following verses, Jeremiah 29:11 and John 14:27. He would challenge you to read them for yourselves. He did not believe in spoon-feeding someone the Word of God. He believed in making disciples.

David loved the Lord. Now, he is with Him face-to-face. He did not want a Memorial Service. He said that “His testimony, while alive, should speak for itself.” He wanted God’s praise and not that of man. He has heard those wonderful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant”. David will be cremated and the family will scatter them upon the waters.