Barbara Jane McMahen Rushing

SHREVEPORT, LA – Visitation to honor the life of Barbara Rushing will be held from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Monday, September 22, 2025, at Kilpatrick's Rose-Neath Funeral Home located at 2500 Southside Dr, Shreveport, LA 71118. Interment will take place at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, September 23, 2025, at Stewart-Walkerville Cemetery, Walkerville, AR.

Barbara was born October 13, 1938, in Magnolia, AR and passed away Friday, September 19, 2025, in Shreveport, LA. She attended LSU-Baton Rouge where she met her husband of fifty years, Troy E. Rushing, then graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and Business Education at Centenary College, Shreveport, LA. Barbara was a lifelong learner and teacher in biology, physics, science, journalism, bookkeeping, and typing in Shreveport, LA at Northwood High School, Trinity Heights Christian Academy, Shreveport Bossier Vocational, and in Houston, TX at Oak Ridge High School, and Spring High School. She studied art at Montgomery College, TX and has taken over fifty art workshops, judged art shows and taught art classes in oils, pastels, watercolors, and acrylics. She enjoyed learning and painting in a variety of mediums with her subject matter varied in landscapes, still life, portraits, and abstract work. She enjoyed trying to capture light in paintings, but color was her emphasis. Among her many talents and interests, Barbara researched and authored the McMahen – McMahan Genealogy book in 1983 to document her family ancestry. In her free time, Barbara enjoyed sewing, professional cake decorating, reading, puppeteering, young business development and job placement consultation, and public speaking. She held leadership roles in the Shreveport Pastel Society and Houston Art League, was an active member in the United Methodist Church, a leader in Stephen Ministries in Houston, TX, and active member and Advisor for the Delta Gamma Women’s Fraternity Alumni for fifty-plus years. Barbara was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend to many, and a stranger to none. She was a strong woman of faith who lived a godly life, inspiring those around her with her steadfast devotion and compassion.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Troy Emmet Rushing; her parents, William Delton McMahen and Janie Mai Franklin McMahen; and her brother, William David McMahen. She is survived by her daughters, Dr. Donna Jane Rushing and her husband, Dr. Roan Flenniken of Shreveport, LA, and Nancy Kaye Rushing Hayes and her husband, Donald Kelly Hayes of Austin, TX; her son, Dr. Paul Alan Rushing and his wife, Theresa Mathis Rushing of Shreveport, LA; and the grandchildren she dearly adored: Dr. Jennifer Dee Flenniken and her husband, Dr. James Barrow, Heather Kaye Hayes Wright and her husband, Billy Joe Wright III, Roan Jordan Flenniken and his wife, Dr. Divleen Sidhu, Robin Alyssa Flenniken Lankford and her husband, Justin Lankford, Lauren Kelly Hayes, Alan Mitchell Rushing, Amanda Catherine Rushing, James Troy Rushing, and John William Rushing. She is also survived by great-grandchildren including Evangeline Kaye Wright and Case Roper Wright, children of Heather and Billy Wright, and by her sister-in-law, Becky McMahen, wife of her late brother, William David McMahen.

Honoring Barbara as pallbearers will be Dr. Paul Alan Rushing, Dr. Roan Flenniken, Donald Kelly Hayes, Roan Jordan Flenniken, Alan Mitchell Rushing, and James Troy Rushing.

The family wishes to express special thanks and gratitude to her doctors, Dr. Joseph Tynes and Dr. Junaid Ansari, along with her dedicated caregivers, Reba Reed, Winnie Morght, and the staff at Savannah at The Oaks. Memorials may be made to the American Diabetes Association or to the American Stroke Association.