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[[Southern Methodist University]]​

[[Southern Methodist University]]​

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'''Virginia Ruth Kilpatrick Shehee''' (July 12, 1923 – July 6, 2015) was a [[business]]woman, civic leader, and patron of the arts from [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]. She was from 1976 to 1980 the state senator for District 38 in Caddo and DeSoto parishes. [6] Shehee won her seat in the 1975 [[general election]] by twenty-three votes over incumbent fellow [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Cecil Kay Carter, Jr.[7] [8] She was defeated in her bid for a second term in 1979 by another Democrat, Richard G. Neeson, who retained the seat until 1992.

'''Virginia Ruth Kilpatrick Shehee''' (July 12, 1923 – July 6, 2015) was a [[business]]woman, civic leader, and patron of the arts from [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]. She was from 1976 to 1980 the state senator for District 38 in Caddo and DeSoto parishes. [6] Shehee won her seat in the 1975 [[general election]] by twenty-three votes over incumbent fellow [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Cecil Kay Carter, Jr. [7] [8] She was defeated in her bid for a second term in 1979 by another Democrat, Richard G. Neeson, who retained the seat until 1992.

Sheehee was the first woman elected to the Louisiana Senate without succeeding a husband. Doris Rhodes Holland of St. Helena Parish in southeastern Louisiana, was appointed to the state Senate upon the death of her husband, Thomas Myers Holland. Thereafter, Doris Holland then won a [[special election]] for the seat. [9]  

Sheehee was the first woman elected to the Louisiana Senate without succeeding a husband. Doris Rhodes Holland of St. Helena Parish in southeastern Louisiana, was appointed to the state Senate upon the death of her husband, Thomas Myers Holland. Thereafter, Doris Holland then won a [[special election]] for the seat. [9]  

In 2015, Shehee was listed prior to her death by the Louisiana secretary of state's office in [[Baton Rouge]] as a registered [[Republican Party|Republican]] voter. [10]  

In 2015, Shehee was listed prior to her death by the Louisiana secretary of state's office in [[Baton Rouge]] as a registered [[Republican Party|Republican]] voter. [10]  

==Business success==

==Business success==

Shehee was born in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], a descendant of the "OId 300" families who settled [[Texas]] in 1824 with [[Stephen F. Austin]]. She moved to Shreveport during the [[Great Depression]] with her parents, the former Nellie Mae Peters (1901-1971) and Lonnie Benjamin Kilpatrick (1892-1956). Upon her mother's death in an airplane crash, Shehee became president and CEO of Kilpatrick Life Insurance Company and the family-owned Rose-Neath Funeral Homes, founded in 1936 by her father, a personal friend of Louisiana [[Governor]] [[Jimmie Davis]], who often visited in the Kirkpatrick home and took a special interest in Virginia. In later years, Shehee was heavily involved in the Davis birthday celebrations, the last of which was held in 2000, when the former two-term governor turned 101.10 When Shehee was a state senator, Davis [[Lobbying|lobbied]] her to make his trademark, "You Are Mu Sunshine," the official state song.[11]

Shehee was born in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], a descendant of the "OId 300" families who settled [[Texas]] in 1824 with [[Stephen F. Austin]]. She moved to Shreveport during the [[Great Depression]] with her parents, the former Nellie Mae Peters (1901-1971) and Lonnie Benjamin Kilpatrick (1892-1956). Upon her mother's death in an airplane crash, Shehee became president and CEO of Kilpatrick Life Insurance Company and the family-owned Rose-Neath Funeral Homes, founded in 1936 by her father, a personal friend of Louisiana [[Governor]] [[Jimmie Davis]], who often visited in the Kirkpatrick home and took a special interest in Virginia. In later years, Shehee was heavily involved in the Davis birthday celebrations, the last of which was held in 2000, when the former two-term governor turned 101.10 When Shehee was a state senator, Davis [[Lobbying|lobbied]] her to make his trademark, "You Are Mu Sunshine," the official state song.[11]

Under Shehee's leadership, Kilpatrick Life Insurance Company increased in size to ten offices in Louisiana and Texas. Rose-Neath has twelve funeral homes and three Louisiana cemeteries.[11]

Under Shehee's leadership, Kilpatrick Life Insurance Company increased in size to ten offices in Louisiana and Texas. Rose-Neath has twelve funeral homes and three Louisiana cemeteries.[11]