Elizabeth Rice Bruister Leslie "Bettye"

Elizabeth Rice Bruister Leslie, “Bettye”, a resident of Shreveport, Louisiana, passed away February 21, 2025 at the age of 91.

Bettye was born in Tutwiler, Mississippi February 5, 1934 to parents Wilda Rice Bruister and Carroll Bruister Sr. 

She married her West Tallahatchie High School sweetheart, Paul Leslie, in 1953 and moved to Shreveport, LA where she became homemaker and mother to one daughter.

In the early 1960’s Bettye served as Girl Scout leader through Creswell Elementary School, guiding her girls in earning merit badges in hiking, bird identification, cooking over open campfires and “buddy burners”, even putting on theatrical productions.

Bettye was energetic, fun, a great storyteller. She entertained her daughter, niece, nephew, and later her grandchildren with a wide spectrum of tales, everything from memories of growing up in the Mississippi Delta during the Depression to William Blake to her own creation of “Miss Smog” stories.

In the 1970’s Bettye returned to college, graduating from LSU-S with a degree in English. She became Faculty Secretary at Centenary College, where she was known for her special friendship with “Miss Kitty”, the campus cat.

Bettye was a loyal friend to every person she met, as well as to all animals (especially cats).

Bettye’s husband Paul Leslie passed away in 2023. She is survived by her daughter, Carol Leslie Vargas; son-in-law, Romeo Vargas; grandchildren Rider Marshall, Gabe Marshall, and Katerina Vargas and great-grandchildren, Lincoln Marshall and Maeve Marshall.