Sallie Sentell

Sallie Hutton Sentell

July 7, 1917 - January 1, 2013



Shreveport, LA - A Service of Witness to the Resurrection in Memory of Sallie Hutton Sentell will be held at 2 o'clock pm, Saturday, January 12, 2013, at First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport. Interment will follow at Cottage Grove Memorial Cemetery, Plain Dealing, LA. Born on July 7, 1917, in Minden, Louisiana, Sallie entered the Church Triumphant on January 1, 2013, at the age of 95.

Sallie was a "cradle Presbyterian" with deep roots in the Reformed tradition. Baptized, educated and nurtured in the faith, she was actively involved in the life of the church, serving with energy, intelligence, enthusiasm and love. She was a self- educated theologian, attending many seminary/church sponsored learning events. In January of 1971, Sallie was the first woman ordained Ruling Elder in the Minden Presbyterian Church. As a member of the Minden church, she taught Sunday school for many years, served on numerous committees of the Synod of the Sun and Pines Presbytery, and was elected Elder Commissioner to the 114th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). She was a life-long member of Presbyterian Women. Sallie was an amateur ornithologist with Cornell University as well as an internationally competitive ballroom dancer, garnering a bronze in Mexico City and a silver in London. Her adventurous nature led her to travel extensively with the English Speaking Union and she took every one of her grandchildren on trips to the location of their interest. Sallie was a disciplined, life-long learner. Over the years, she became an accomplished quilter, gardener and family historian. Generations of Sentells, those living and those yet to be born, will be forever grateful to Sallie for writing several books. These "self-published" books tell the genealogy of the family as well as first-hand accounts of what life was like in north Bossier and Webster Parishes. Her thoughtful, generous and gracious spirit was admired and appreciated by all who knew her.

A fourth generation Minden resident, Sallie is preceded in death by her parents, Cornelius M. Hutton and Juliet Webb Hutton, one sister, Juliet Hutton Rathbun of Minden, and husbands, Dr. Charles Sherburne Sentell, Sr., who practiced medicine in Minden for many years, and the Rev. James Anderton, Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Survivors include two daughters, Jean Mendenhall and husband Shannon of Shreveport, and Sallie Roberts and husband Duck of Kissimmee, FL; two sons, Charles Sherburne Sentell, Jr. and wife Diane of Minden, and Webb Sentell and wife Beth of Shreveport; two step-sons, J. T. Anderton and wife Regina of Cincinnati, OH, and John Anderton of New Orleans; eleven grandchildren, Bill Mendenhall, Julie Marshall, Paige Roberts, Jeannie DeLeon, Joe Roberts and Will Roberts, Sherb Sentell, Hutton Sentell, Molly Haile, CJ Sentell and Laura Sentell; and twenty-one great grandchildren, many of whom interacted with "Nena" on Facebook. Sallie's youthful nature and sharp wit endeared her to everyone, young and old alike.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 900 Jordan St., Shreveport, LA 71101 or John Calvin Presbyterian Church, 3030 Colquitt Rd, Shreveport, LA 71118.