death_date children birth_date residence term_end alma_mater death_place image_size preceded term_start spouse image name occupation resting_place succeeded birth_place party office religion article_title birth_name
6 july 2015 from first marriage : 12 july 1923 shreveport caddo parish louisiana 1980 alexander elementary school -lrb- shreveport -rrb- shreveport , louisiana 200px cecil k. carter , jr. 1976 -lrb- 1 -rrb- john andrew guy -lrb- divorced -rrb- virginia_k . _ shehee_of_la . jpg virginia ruth kilpatrick shehee insurance and funeral home businesswoman forest park east cemetery in shreveport richard g. neeson houston , texas , usa democratic party / later republican louisiana desoto parishes -rrb- state senator from district 38 -lrb- caddo and episcopalian virginia shehee
 virginia ruth kilpatrick
virginia shehee

virginia ruth kilpatrick shehee -lrb- july 12 , 1923 -- july 6 , 2015 -rrb- was a businesswoman , civic leader , and patron of the arts in shreveport , louisiana , who served from 1976 to 1980 as the state senator for district 38 in caddo and desoto parishes .
shehee won her seat in the 1975 general election by twenty-three votes over incumbent fellow democrat , the late cecil k. carter , jr. .
she was defeated 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 .
in may 1936 , doris lindsey holland rhodes of greensburg in 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 .
in 2015 , shehee was listed prior to her death by the louisiana secretary of state 's office in baton rouge as a registered republican voter .
there was not a sharp edge in her personality .
... she was so convincing ... there was not a deceptive bone in her body .
-- former u.s. senator j. bennett johnston , jr. , of his friend , virginia shehee
