| Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee | |
|---|---|
| Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee | |
| Louisiana State Senator from District 38 (Caddo and De Soto parishes) | |
| In office 1976 – 1980 |
|
| Preceded by | Cecil K. Carter, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Richard G. Neeson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1923 Houston Harris County, Texas |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Shreveport |
| Alma mater | C.E. Byrd High School |
| Occupation | Businesswoman |
Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee (born 1923) is a civic leader in Shreveport, Louisiana, who served from 1976- 1980 as the first female state senator from District 38 in Caddo Parish. She won her seat in the 1975 general election by twenty-three votes over incumbent Democrat Cecil K. Carter, Jr.[1][2] She was defeated in 1979 by another Democrat, Richard G. Neeson, who held the seat until 1992.[3]
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Upon the death of her mother, Nellie Peters (1901-1971), Shehee became president and CEO of Kilpatrick Life Insurance Company and the family-owned Rose-Neath Funeral Homes, founded in 1936 by her father, Lonnie Benjamin Kilpatrick.
She is chair-emeritus of the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana, renamed in her honor in 1996.[4]Early in her career, Shehee served as an insurance company lobbyist.[5] She is a member of the American Council of Life Insurance and chair of the Louisiana Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association.[6]
Louisiana's first elected female state senator, Shehee served during the second administration of Governor Edwin Washington Edwards. She continued thereafter to play political roles on the transition team of Governors Buddy Roemer and Mike Foster.[5] In 2007, she was named vice chair of Bobby Jindal's ethics team.[7]
Though a Democrat, she also contributes to Republican candidates and causes.[8]
Service includes the Louisiana Committee of 100 (for economic development), Shreveport-Bossier Community Renewal and Louisiana Board of Regents Foundation. A 1943 graduate, she is a trustee of Centenary College of Louisiana.[5] She served as chair of the orchestra board of the Shreveport Symphony and worked to restore the historic Strand Theatre and other downtown renewal projects.[5]
From her first marriage to John Guy, she had three children: Ann Shane Shehee, Andrew Michael Shehee, and Nell Elizabeth Shehee Kramer. She is the widow of William Peyton Shehee, Jr. (1919–2004), with whom she had a daughter, Margaret Scott Shehee Cole.[11] On March 25, 2006, the Centenary College baseball park was named for and dedicated to Peyton Shehee.
Shehee's sister, Ann Kilpatrick Peters (1937-2011), a Shreveport native who used their mother's maiden name, was a mezzo-soprano in New York City, having performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, and the New York City Opera. She traveled with touring companies of several Broadway musicals. With Virginia Shehee, Peters was co-owner and a director of both Kilpatrick Life Insurance Company and Rose-Neath Funeral Homes. Following her retirement from performing, Peters was a patron of the arts in both and Shreveport.[11]
Shehee's authorized biography Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee: First Lady of Shreveport was released in 2010 through Sarah Hudson-Pierce's Ritz Publications.[12]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Cecil K. Carter, Jr. |
Louisiana State Senator from District 38 (Caddo and De Soto parishes)
Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee |
Succeeded by Richard G. Neeson |