Death
Waggonner had a stroke and suffered from heart problems. He had been hospitalized for several weeks prior to his death at Promise Specialty Hospital in Shreveport.
Services of forty-five minutes in length were held on October 9, 2007, at the Brown Memorial Chapel of Methodist-affiliated Centenary College, another institution of higher learning which Waggonner supported. Centenary President Emeritus Donald Webb officiated, with assistance from the Reverend Lynn Malone of the First United Methodist Church of Benton. Webb quipped that Waggonner had insisted thirty years earlier that Webb preach Waggonner's funeral, and Webb said he often hoped that Waggonner would outlive him and thus relieve Webb of that responsibility for which he felt "inadequate". Webb called Waggonner a "balanced man who could see both sides and bring them together." Reverend Malone said that Waggonner was the "ultimate patriot who loved his country." Waggonner himself requested the reading of that passage from Ecclesiastes about there being a time to everything.
Burial was in the family plot at the Plain Dealing Cemetery.
In addition to his wife, Waggonner was survived by a daughter, Carol Jean Waggonner Johnston and her husband, Billy Tom Johnston, a builder, from Benton; a son, David Waggonner, an architect from New Orleans, and three grandchildren. Waggonner's brother, W. E. "Willie" Waggonner (August 7, 1905—May 9, 1976), was a Democratic sheriff in Bossier Parish for many years.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco ordered that the flags at the State Capitol and Governor's Mansion be flown at half-staff from sunrise until sunset to honor Waggonner on the day of his funeral.
"Joe Waggonner was quite a character, representing our state during a tumultuous time in Congress. He was an economic development pioneer for Northwest Louisiana, and will be remembered for his hard work to lift up the region," Blanco said in her statement.
Former Governor Buddy Roemer, whom Waggonner opposed as his successor in the House in 1978, remarked: "He was bipartisan, or better yet, nonpartisan. He kept putting his district, his state, his country first, not his party. The first thing they said was 'Democrats vote this way, Republicans vote this way,' and Joe Waggonner said 'Nonsense!'"
Local and regional dignitaries who attended Waggonner's funeral included former State Senator Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee, a funeral home and insurance company owner from Shreveport who worked with Waggonner on a number of issues. Mayors Lo Walker of Bossier City and Cedric Glover of Shreveport attended, as did former Caddo Parish Sheriff Don Hathaway and former U.S. Representative Jerry Huckaby, whose freshman year in the U.S. House coincided with Waggonner's last term. The Shreveport Times noted that funeral guests included then Republican State Representatives Billy Montgomery and Jane H. Smith of Bossier Parish and U.S. Representative Jim McCrery.
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