Gay Nell Bates

A memorial service for Gay Nell Bates, 83, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 3, 2026 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 1815 Marshall St., Shreveport, Louisiana. A visitation will be held from 12:00 p.m. until service time. Officiating the service will be Reverend Andrew Brewster.

Gay Nell was born on September 5, 1942 to Harold and Gwendolyn Ussery in Shreveport, Louisiana and passed away peacefully in her sleep on Thursday, December 18, 2025 in Bossier City, Louisiana.

A graduate of Fair Park High School, she went to work for the VA before working at LSU Med as an administrative assistant, where she eventually retired. She enjoyed attending Mardi Gras in New Orleans and spending time with family and friends. She was a member of Beta Sigma Phi. To know her was to love her and she will truly be missed.

She is preceded in death by her parents and sisters, Jennifer Burrage and Carolyn Walker. Left to cherish her memory are her children, Steve Bates, Tracy Bates and Kirby Bates; sister, Barbara Payne of Camedenton, MO; brother, Harold “Mutt” Ussery and wife, Elaine of Marrero, LA; granddaughters, Makenzie Bates and Morgan Lassister and husband, Kenneth and great-granddaughter, Lilith Crain.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials may be made to Alzheimer's Association, 322 8th Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10001.