A Memorial Service for Carolyn Ruth Bice Gootee will be held on Saturday, June 15, 2019 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 1815 Marshall Street, Shreveport, Louisiana 71101. The family will receive family and friends from 11:00 a.m. until the service begins at 11:30 a.m. Officiating will be Father Duane C. Trombetta of St. John Berchman's Church.
Carolyn was born in Oxford, Louisiana on June 30, 1937 and died on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. The daughter of the late Archie Floyd Bice and Mira Holmes Bice, Carolyn grew up in Mansfield, Louisiana and attended Northwestern State University in Louisiana where she earned a bachelor\'s degree in elementary education in 1959. She married Jack W.L. Gootee on January 15, 1965.
Carolyn went on to pursue her master's degree in Education and continued post-graduate studies through the years. She taught for over 35 years, starting at Town & Country in Mansfield. She the continued on to work at North Highland Elementary in Shreveport, Christ the King Catholic School in Bossier City, St. John Berchman\'s Catholic School in Shreveport, finally retiring from Stoner Hill Elementary School in Shreveport, where she was passionately involved in the Reading Recovery Program, among other initiatives to improve education outcomes in the parish.
Carolyn lived in Bossier City, Louisiana and Shreveport, Louisiana throughout her life, moving to Simpsonville, South Carolina in 2004 after she and Jack retired.
Carolyn was preceded in death by her husband, Jack W.L. Gootee, Sr., in 2012. She is survived by her children, Jack W.L. Gootee, Jr. and wife, Julie of Bossier City, Jeannine Gootee Fergusson and husband, Doug of Alpharetta, GA, John Wesley Gootee, II and wife, Heather of Greenville, SC, and stepson Anthony L. Gootee and wife, JoAnn of Boca Rotan, FL; grandchildren, Joseph A. Gootee, Sydney E. Gootee, Zachary D. Gootee, Addison E. Gootee and Ashlyn K. Gootee; great-grandchild, Riley Gootee, and Lilly, her beloved cat.
One of Carolyn\'s passions was helping animals; the family suggests memorials be may to The Humane Society of the United States, 1255 23rd, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20037.