The circumstances that led to Ardoin's death, and the final cause of his death, are uncertain. Descendants of family members and musicians who knew Ardoin tell a story, now well-known, about a racially motivated attack on him in which he was severely beaten, in about 1939, while walking home after playing at a house dance near Eunice. The most common story says that some white men were angered when a white woman, daughter of the house, lent her handkerchief to Ardoin to wipe the sweat from his face. According to Canray Fontenot and Wade Fruge, in PBS's "American Patchwork", Ardoin left the place and was run over by a Model A car which crushed his head and throat, damaging his vocal cords. He was found the next day, lying in a ditch. According to Fontenot, he "went plumb crazy" and "didn't know if he was hungry or not. Others had to feed him. He got weaker and weaker until he died." Others consider this story apocryphal. Other versions say that Ardoin was poisoned, not beaten, possibly by a jealous fellow musician.