Celebrations of Her Life Abound/Funeral Arrangements Come Together
The City of DeSoto continues to mourn the loss of Mayor Curtistene S. McCowan after losing her suddenly to complications related to a lung cancer diagnosis. Despite the community’s shock and heartbreak, the last several days have been filled with family, friends, colleagues, and residents coming together to honor the late Mayor in ways she would have been overjoyed to witness.
The McCowan family has announced the Mayor’s visitation and funeral services will be conducted at Kirkwood Temple CME Episcopal Church in Dallas, 1440 Sunny Glen Drive. On Thursday, November 5, the family will hold a visitation from 1:00 pm-6:00 pm. The visitation is open to the public with a reminder to those in attendance to adhere to proper COVID-19 precautions. On Friday, November 6, the McCowan family will hold a funeral service for Curtistene S. McCowan at 11:00 am. Due to the number of family attendees and capacity limits, the in-person funeral service will be private. However, the community at large is invited to participate virtually through the live streaming of the funeral service on YouTube and Facebook (Kirkwood Temple – Kirkwood Event). Kirkwood’s YouTube Channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW1dBiN3-9N_96cxdC6pOHg/live
Interment will take place at Holy Redeemer Cemetery at 1500 S Westmoreland Road in DeSoto immediately following the service. The procession to the cemetery will include a pre-announced route through DeSoto where residents can pay their respects as it passes by. Everyone is encouraged to follow good social distancing guidelines and wear masks if they are around other people. The route will be announced next week.
The DeSoto community continues to honor Mayor McCowan with the City of DeSoto flag remaining at half-staff over the weekend. DeSoto City Council members and staff participated in a day to wear red in honor of the late Mayor. City and community members shared their photos online as City facilities were filled with red.
“I believe Mayor McCowan would have been deeply moved by the outpouring of love, especially from our workers who wore red in her honor,” observed DeSoto City Manager Brandon Wright. “The desire by all to honor her has been both enthusiastic and heartfelt, and it shows just how strongly the people of DeSoto feel about our Mayor and how much they miss her.”
The City of DeSoto is presently working on additional events to honor the late Mayor, including the formation of an ad hoc committee to develop ideas for the City Council to review. Among those plans include a future event for City Council, area elected officials, and other community leaders to share their memories of Mayor McCowan with the DeSoto community. Future details will be provided to the public as they are available.
The Mayor’s family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Curtistene S. McCowan scholarship fund through the Concerned DeSoto Citizens organization that the Mayor helped found. The website is http://www.cdcdesoto.org. Also, they have a mailing address of P.O. 371, DeSoto, 75123. Or they can deliver contributions to the scholarship fund to Pastor Curt Krohn at Faith Bible Church.
Those who would like to view the full album of photos from Friday’s “wearing of the red” at DeSoto City Hall can visit our Facebook Page.
