BOBBY GENE ADDISON

Bobby Gene Addison, 90, our husband, father, brother, uncle, Boss and maker of music, went home with Jesus on July 31, 2022.

Bobby grew up in Cedar Grove, the firstborn child of Robert and Thelma Addison. When he was a teenager, his aunt Margie Jordan Geter taught him to play guitar and landed him a spot on the Louisiana Hayride, in spite of his mother's protests. Thelma, afraid Bobby would stray from his strict Pentecostal upbringing, argued that she would rather have a poor son in heaven than a rich son in hell.

So, when it was almost Bobby's time to go on stage, he peeked out from behind the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium curtain and saw that there was quite a crowd in attendance. He ran out of the building, and thus ended his hayride career, to the delight of his mother, who is in heaven with Bobby right now. However, the family did on one occasion gather around the big family radio and listen to him sing live to an unseen audience on KENT.

Bobby had an overwhelming fear of public speaking, preventing him from introducing himself or the song he was about to sing. As fate would have it, he was miraculously cured when forced to address the judge after being called for jury duty and ultimately serving. After that he had no fear of audiences. He loved to talk, and he talked a lot.

On weekends, the family home was alive with the sounds of gospel and popular music as Bobby played guitar to accompany Aunt Margie's accordion. The entire family joined them in these impromptu sing-a-longs, imprinting the walls of that old house forever with a joyful noise.

When he was 17, he married Virginia Copple who is left with a few acres of varied plants at their Keithville home because Bobby loved planting and grooming anything with roots. They were married 73 years, and during that time she watched him go through about a thousand hobbies and interests, from coin collecting, miniature cars, wine making, to raising German Shepherds. He had a busy mind. Most of Bobby's working life was spent at Aluminum Awning and Jalousie where he installed awnings, carports, and windows.

Virginia and Bobby produced four children: Rickie (Vickie) Addison of Denham Springs, LA; Rebecca (Mickey) Parker of Shreveport; Larry Addison and Elizabeth (Jeff) Robbins of Keithville. He taught his children to sing and play music. He became the glue that held the entire family together, according to great-granddaughter Macale Parker.

He and his family produced five CDs, and often sang on gospel circuits in the Shreveport area, especially during his later years while attending Countryside Christian Church. He was a prolific songwriter. As much as he loved music, it took second place to an all-you-can-eat buffet after church.

In addition to Virginia and his children, he leaves behind two brothers, Clarence and Roger Addison of Shreveport; a sister, Margie Addison Tubbs of Denham Springs; 9 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren; and many nephews and nieces.

He was preceded in death by his parents; grandparents, Mary Nancy and Thomas Addison of Sabine Parish; Pearl and Clarence Jordan of Shreveport; two grandchildren, Jeffrey Parker and James Ray Addison; a brother, Jerry Addison; and his beloved Aunt Margie Geter.