Penelope "Penny" Spessard Wells

A memorial service for Penelope “Penny” Spessard Wells, 76, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at Fellowship United Methodist Church, 4750 Barksdale Blvd., Bossier City, Louisiana. A time to share memories with family members and friends will follow. A burial will be held at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 at Forest Park Cemetery, St. Vincent in Shreveport, Louisiana. Officiating the service will be Dr. Derrick Hills.

Penny was born on April 23, 1950 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma to Frank Palmer Spessard and Mary Davies Spessard and passed away peacefully on September 2, 2026 in Shreveport, Louisiana surrounded by her loving family.

She grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and Idaho Falls, Idaho where she graduated from Skyline High School in 1968. She came to Shreveport to attend Centenary College and received a bachelor’s and later a master’s degree. She met and married David Wells in 1989. She sang in the First Methodist Shreveport church choir for decades and also enjoyed serving in the church.

She was a career teacher in Bossier Parish, teaching Latin, Mythology and English at Parkway and Plain Dealing High School for over 30 years. She firmly believed in the value of education and was committed to doing her part to foster learning in hundreds of children. She enjoyed reading, music and singing. She loved cats, she always had a cat her whole life.

She is preceded in death by her parents and aunt, Jane Ashton Davies of Shreveport. Left to cherish her memory are her husband, Hugh David Wells; daughter, Stephanie Wells Plaisance and husband, Michael of Houma, Louisiana; sister, Patricia “Trish” Beach and husband, Robert “Bob” Beach of Galveston, Texas and nephew, Matthew Beach and wife, May Oo of Berkeley, California.

The family would like to express special thanks to Willis Knighton Pierremont and Riverview Care Center for their care and compassion shown to Penny over the last several months.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials may be made to Fellowship United Methodist Church Food Pantry or Providence House.