Barbara Keith Gay

Funeral services for Barbara Keith Gay, 86, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, January 13, 2025 at Trinity Heights Baptist Church, 3820 Old Mooringsport Rd., Shreveport, Louisiana. A visitation will be held at the church from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 12, 2025. Burial will be held in Lay Cemetery in Benton, Louisiana. Officiating the service will be Matthew Montgomery.

Barbara passed away on January 10, 2025, in Shreveport, Louisiana at the age of 85. Barbara was born in El Dorado, Arkansas on January 16, 1939, to James Thomas and Clair Keith. After living in Arkansas and Ida, Louisiana, Barbara is a long-time resident of Shreveport. 

She is survived by her four children, Belinda Montgomery and husband, Mark, and their children Brian, Matthew, Jarred and Alicia; son, Rickey Gay and his children Gilbert, John and Anna; Beverly Barr and husband, John, and their children, Hollie, Aaron, and Sarah Kate; and Bonnie Floring and her husband, Tom, and their children, Caroline, Camille, Daniel, Catherine and Claire, and seventeen great-grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Richard Gay, and 5 siblings, Jimmy Keith, Mickey Keith, Popeye Keith, Margaret Guess, and Martha Simpson.

Barbara moved from Ida to Shreveport and attended C.E. Byrd High School. After high school, she attended business school and met and married Richard Gilbert Gay, an Air Force veteran of the Korean War, beginning her lifetime role as a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. 

Barbara and Richard loved camping and took the kids on many vacations to National Parks and State Parks, instilling in them a love of history, God’s creation, and our great nation. They served at church and ensured all their children attended church and heard the gospel.

Barbara worked as a church secretary for Northwoods Baptist Church and Westlake Baptist Church and a teacher’s-aide for several years. Barbara/” Mamia”, would say her favorite job was being a mom and grandmom to all her family. She will be sorely missed, but her godly influence is a legacy that will bless her and future generations. 

Honoring Barbara as pallbearers will be her grandsons, Brian Montgomery, Jarred Montgomery, Aaron Barr, Gilbert Gay, John Gay, and Jeff Audirsch. Serving as honorary pallbearer will be Daniel Floring.

The family suggests memorials may be made to Trinity Heights Baptist Church, 3820 Old Mooringsport Rd., Shreveport, Louisiana 71107.