Gebelein

Mrs. Louise Gebelein, 88, of Shreveport, La., passed away Friday, Feb. 22, 2008.

Mrs. Gebelein was born Sept. 27, 1919, in Elizabeth, N.J.

She was a graduate of Wheelock College in education in 1940. Louise was owner and director of Christy-Allen Play School from 1949 to 1954.

Consistent with her love for children, she was active in Girl Scouts from 1955 to 1975, including president of the Butler Area Girl Scout Council, president of Keystone Tall Tree Girl Scout Council, coordinated the Girl Scout Roundup in 1961 and coordinated a $1 million building project for three camp centers. Other organizations she was an active member of are the Glacier Ridge Trails Committee and the Adirondack Mountain Club.

Louise moved to Shreveport in 1975 and became a member of the Toy Delegation, Christian Services. She later volunteered at LSUS Medical Center from 1984 to 2000. Mrs. Gebelein was a member of the Shreveport Rose Society, the American Rose Society, the Bonsai Society, The Little Theatre of Shreveport, the Shreveport Nature Society, the Ozark Society, the Bayou Chapter of the Ozark Society, and was the chairman of the Speakers Bureau for the Louisiana Public Broadcasting Station.

While at Live Oak Retirement Center, Mrs. Gebelein continued her love of gardening by taking care of all of the roses at Live Oak. She was an active member of the Resident Council at Live Oak, including a term as secretary of the council. Friends at Live Oak remember her walking her dog four times a day and sitting at a different lunch table everyday. She will be greatly missed by all who had the opportunity to know her.

She was survived by her beloved dog, Bijoux; her son Christopher; her daughter, Susan; her three granddaughters, Karen Gebelein, Marcia Derryberry and Alexa Holcomb; her great-grandchildren, Dylan, Jacob and Madison Derryberry, and her sister, Margaret Saylor.

She was preceded in death by her husband-hiking companion-gardening companion, C.F. William Gebelein, of 63 years; her mother, Louise Harrell; her father, G. Roland Harrell, and her sister, Frances Faulkner.