James Kenneth Binning passed away peacefully at his home in Walker, on Thursday, September 17th, 2026. The son of Windom Wayne and Ruth Day Binning, he was born in Baton Rouge, though a resident of Walker for the past forty years. “Ken” as he was called by most of those who knew him, was a 1961 graduate of Istrouma High School in Baton Rouge and in 1966 received a bachelor of science degree from LSU. He entered the army that December, received his basic training at Fort Polk, and then was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he worked in an army laboratory. On his first furlough he married Peggy Nettles of Baton Rouge on June 17, 1967, and after completing his service they returned to Louisiana and settled in Monroe, where he attended pharmacy school. There he made life-long friends of Freddie Wilcox, Spencer Fonte, John Zitzman, and Tim Laborde.
Once he had completed his studies in Monroe, Kenneth and Peggy moved to Greenville, Mississippi, and he took up his duties at Fontana’s Pharmacy. He came back to Louisiana in 1975 to manage Thrift Town Drugs in Livingston. Here he remained for the next twenty-six years. Upon retirement, he embarked on “honey-do” projects at home. Kenneth enjoyed working in the yard, building or just fixing things, but after six months of doing solitary chores around the house he longed for the hustle and bustle of the drug store, so he began doing relief work at Live Oak Pharmacy in Watson, where, as at Thrift Town, everyone became his family.
Before his illness, Kenneth was an avid football fan, holding season ticket to LSU football games for more than fifty years and passing them on to his grandchildren. He especially enjoyed tailgating and following the Tigers to out-of-town games. With a wonderful sense of humor, he was always the life of the party, and always appreciated a good joke. He was more than a sports spectator though. One of his passions was running, and every other day he would run four and a half miles. He even entered the Baton Rouge River Road Race in which he came in third. His real passion, however, was visiting the casino on the Mississippi Gulf Coast with Peggy. Even after he was confined to a wheel chair by the onset of congestive heart disease, he sought out the relaxing atmosphere of the casino where he could gamble for small change and enjoy the boiled shrimp served there. After his lawnmower accident on June 24, 2026, which left him even more confined, he liked daily car drives with Peggy while enjoying a snowball or slush.
Kenneth had the uncommon ability to make friends easily and to keep them for life, because his many friends, aside from his family, were his greatest pleasure in life. And then there was the bonhomie of his personality that enabled him to greet a stranger with a joke or a gently teasing remark. It perhaps could be said of him, as it was said of his father, Windom, that whenever he entered a room the party began, and when he left the room, the party was over. Kenneth seemed to regard the downside of life as a mere imposter. Even as recently as this past June, when he was weakened by his heart disease, he ventured out on his lawn mower, which unfortunately hit a bad spot and turned over, adding physical injury to his illness which confined him to a wheelchair. This did not stop him from taking long car rides with Peggy to make sure the world was continuing to turn on its axis. Nor did it prevent Peggy and him from making regular trips to the casino on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where he could enjoy his last little pleasures in life by gambling for small change and tasting the boiled shrimp served there that he so much loved.
The closest Kenneth came to despair in his last days was a sardonic remark on his condition, quoting the last line spoken at the end of each episode of a popular television comedy of the 1950’s, “The Life of Riley,” in which a crestfallen Chester Riley faces the screen and says, “What a revolting development this
is.” He could not only mock his fate, but he could boast that his was a good life, and a long life. He even seemed a little surprised and much gratified at its length when he boasted to Peggy recently that he was almost eighty-three and a half years old. For all those fortunate enough to have known Kenneth, he made life a bit more of a party, and for all of those he has left behind, he will not only be remembered, he will be missed.
Kenneth is survived by Peggy, his wife of fifty-nine years, and his son, Jeffrey Kenneth Binning; his beloved grandchildren Bryce Kenneth Binning and Britt Elizabeth “Britsey” Binning, and their loving mother Candace; his brother, Francis Wayne Binning, and wife, Jewel Redden Binning; step sister Billie Jean Wickwire Lofton; sister-in-law Carolyn Nettles Okervall; brother Russel B. Nettles, Jr., and wife Rita Guillaume Nettles. He is preceded in death by his parents; by his father and mother-in-law Russell B. and Nellie O’Rillion Nettles; brother-in-law Bill Okervall; step brother-in-law Oscar Lofton; and two dear friends from childhood, Gerald Hayden and Chris Kabel.
The visits Kenneth received during his illness from the owners and his fellow employees of the pharmacies where he worked gave him comfort, and those visits are greatly appreciated. Also, Peggy and Jeff would like to thank Dr. Charles Smith for his excellent care and friendship. Thanks, are also due to Abby, the nurse at OLOL Trauma Intensive Care Unit, the best hospice care company, Southern Grace, and their nurses, Amber, Karley, Nika, Sonny and Frankie as well as PT Christi for her personal care of our loved one. Kenneth would also want mentioned his canine companions throughout his life: Fluffy, Buddy, Sabby, Blue and BB, the last of whom survives him.
Pallbearers are Freddie Wilcox, Danny St. Angelo, Stephen Binning, Spencer Fonte, Jamar Johnson, and Rhett Hebert
Visitation will be September 24, 2026, 10:30-11:30 at Mission of the Sacred Heart Church, 29589 South Poplar Street, Livingston, Louisiana. Service, Father Matthew Graham officiating, will be from 11:30-12:30, with reception following in the church hall.