Virginia Shehee
Encyclopedia
Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee (born 1923) is a Shreveport
business
woman and civic leader and the first female state senator from District 38. She won her seat in the 1975 general election
by 23 votes over incumbent Cecil K. Carter, Jr.
and served a single term until 1980. She was defeated in 1979 by fellow Democrat Richard G. Neeson
, who held the seat until 1992.
She is chair-emeritus of the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana, which was renamed in her honor in 1996. Early in her career, Shehee served as an insurance company lobbyist. She is a member of the American Council of Life Insurance and chair of the Louisiana Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association.
and Mike Foster
. In 2007, she was named vice chair of Bobby Jindal
ethics team.
Though a Democrat, she also contributes to Republican
candidates and causes.
,. 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.
park was named for and dedicated to Peyton Shehee on March 25, 2006.
Shehee's authorized biography Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee: First Lady of Shreveport was released in 2010 through Sarah Hudson-Pierce
's Ritz Publications.
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
woman and civic leader and the first female state senator from District 38. She won her seat in the 1975 general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
by 23 votes over incumbent Cecil K. Carter, Jr.
Cecil K. Carter, Jr.
Cecil Kay Carter, Jr., known as C. Kay Carter, Jr., or C. K. Carter , is a businessman from Shreveport, Louisiana, who served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1972 to 1976....
and served a single term until 1980. She was defeated in 1979 by fellow Democrat Richard G. Neeson
Richard G. Neeson
Richard Grady Neeson is a former Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate who from 1980 to 1992 represented District 38 in Caddo and DeSoto parishes....
, who held the seat until 1992.
Business success
On the death of her mother in 1971, Shehee became president and CEO of Kilpatrick Life Insurance Company and Rose-Neath Funeral Homes, founded by her father in 1936. Since 2005, she has been Chair of the board of directors.She is chair-emeritus of the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana, which was renamed in her honor in 1996. Early in her career, Shehee served as an insurance company lobbyist. She is a member of the American Council of Life Insurance and chair of the Louisiana Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association.
"First Woman" designations
- Omicron Delta KappaOmicron Delta KappaOmicron Delta Kappa, or ΟΔΚ, also known as The Circle, or more commonly ODK, is a national leadership honor society. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, by 15 student and faculty leaders. Chapters, known as Circles, are located on over 300...
honor society - Shreveport Community Council "Special Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Service"
- Clyde E. Fant Memorial Award for Community Service
- Designated "Mr. Shreveport" by the Optimist Club
- "Business Leader of the Year" by Shreveport Chamber of CommerceChamber of commerceA chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
Political
Louisiana’s first elected female state senator, during the second administration of Governor Edwin Washington Edwards. She continued to play political roles on the transition team of Governors Buddy RoemerBuddy Roemer
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...
and Mike Foster
Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...
. In 2007, she was named vice chair of Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal
Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....
ethics team.
Though a Democrat, she also contributes to Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidates and causes.
Service and Philanthropy
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 LouisianaCentenary College of Louisiana
Centenary College of Louisiana is a primarily undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is one of the founding members of the Associated Colleges of the South, a pedagogical organization consisting of sixteen Southern liberal arts colleges...
,. She served as chair of the orchestra board of the Shreveport Symphony and worked to restore the historic Strand Theatre
Strand Theatre (Shreveport)
The Strand Theatre in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA, opened in 1925 as a Vaudeville venue and was nicknamed "The greatest theatre of the South" and the "Million Dollar Theatre" by its builders, Julian and Abraham Saenger of Shreveport, owners of the Saenger Amusements Company, which operated theaters...
and other downtown renewal projects.
- 1989: "Benemerenti Medal" for outstanding community service
- Humanitarian Award from the Arthritis FoundationArthritis FoundationThe Arthritis Foundation is the largest national nonprofit organization solely dedicated to the prevention, control and cure of arthritis, the leading cause of disability in the United States....
- Liberty Bell Award from the Shreveport Bar Association
- Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews
- 1994: Shreveport Medical Society "Outstanding Contribution to the Advancement of Medicine in Shreveport" for support for the biomedical institute.
- 1994: Among first nine inductees in Louisiana Center for Women and Government Hall of Fame at Nicholls State UniversityNicholls State UniversityNicholls State University, founded in 1948, is a public university located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, USA. Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System of universities. Originally called Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the institution split from the Louisiana State University System in...
- 1994: Junior Achievement's North Louisiana Business Hall of Fame
- Alumni halls of fame of Centenary College and Byrd High School.
- 2002: Louisiana Association of Nonprofit OrganizationNonprofit organizationNonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
s for support of 37 associations - 2009: Louisiana 4-H Club Hall of Fame. Paid record price for 1974 champion hog for a youth with cerebral palsyCerebral palsyCerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
.
Family
From her first marriage to John Guy, she had three children: Ann Shane, Andrew Michael and Nell Elizabeth. She is the widow of William Peyton Shehee (1919–2004) with whom she had a daughter, Margaret Scott. The Centenary College baseballBaseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
park was named for and dedicated to Peyton Shehee on March 25, 2006.
Shehee's authorized biography Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee: First Lady of Shreveport was released in 2010 through Sarah Hudson-Pierce
Sarah Hudson-Pierce
Sarah Rachel Hudson-Pierce is an author of inspirational books, a publisher, a journalist, and a former cable television host in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish and the largest city in North Louisiana....
's Ritz Publications.