Billy Ray Pesnell

Funeral services celebrating the life of Billy Ray Pesnell, age 89, of Shreveport, Louisiana, will be held at 11:00 o’clock a.m. on Saturday, July 8, 2023, at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 1815 Marshall Street, Shreveport, Louisiana, 71101, with Rev. Larry Emory, pastor of Longstraw Baptist Church, officiating. Interment will follow at the Longstraw Cemetery in Choudrant, Louisiana. Visitation will be held on Friday, July 7, 2023, from 5:00 o’clock p.m. until 7:00 o’clock p.m. at Rose-Neath Funeral Home.

Mr. Pesnell was born in Jackson Parish, Louisiana, to his parents, Van Gordon Pesnell and Maggie Oda Lee Youngblood Pesnell, on March 20, 1934, and passed away on July 2, 2023, at Christus Highland Medical Center in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was a long-time member of First Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, and was a faithful friend and supporter of First Baptist Church School.

Mr. Pesnell attended Eastland Elementary School in Ruston, Louisiana, and went on to Ruston High School, where he was the valedictorian in 1952. He was very active in the Future Farmers of America and participated in a number of speaking contests and debates. He later attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he completed the ROTC program and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

After he graduated from LSU, he married Gloria Faye Fletcher and applied for a Root-Tilden scholarship to study law at New York University. He received that scholarship, attended New York University, and graduated in 3 years with his Juris Doctor degree.

He and Gloria then moved back to Louisiana, settling in Shreveport, and he took a job practicing law with Hargrove, Guyton, & Van Hook. He practiced law with Hargrove, Guyton, & Van Hook and its successors for almost 46 years. In 2004, he founded the Pesnell Law Firm, A P.L.C., where he continued to practice until his death on Sunday, July 2, 2023.

Mr. Pesnell was a conscientious, hard-working lawyer who was well-regarded by his clients and by the members of the bar. He was supported through most of his career by Debra Neal Ervin, his office manager, bookkeeper, paralegal, secretary, and friend. Ms. Ervin, who worked for him for more than 45 years, became a member of his family.