The DeSoto community will continue to mourn the loss of mayor Curtistene McCowan on Thursday.
McCowan died Oct. 28 at the age of 72, after she announced in early October that she was diagnosed with lung cancer.
McCowan's family will hold a visitation from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday at the Kirkwood Temple CME Episcopal Church on 1440 Sunny Glen Drive in Dallas.
It's open to the public and people are encouraged to wear red, her favorite color. They are also asking people to follow COVID-19 precautions like wearing a mask and social distancing.
McCowan became DeSoto's mayor in 2016 and was re-elected last year. Before that - she was a city council member and served on the economic development board.
McCowan was elected mayor of DeSoto in May 2016 and was re-elected to a second term in 2019.
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Before she served as mayor, she was a city council member and held several positions on DeSoto's economic development board. McCowan founded Concerned DeSoto Citizens and was active in the organization for 31 years alongside her husband.
McCowan was active in education at the national, state and local levels. She was the first African-American elected to public office when she won a seat on the DeSoto Independent School District Board of Trustees in 1990.
She served as president for two of the six years on the board. In January 2007 a middle school was named for her.
Over the weekend, DeSoto city hall was draped in red ribbons in remembrance of McCowan during a special memorial service.
"I'm going to miss her, I'm going to truly miss her," said Kenzie Moore III, the mayor pro tem for DeSoto. "I just feel I need to keep doing what she would want me to do in this moment. I just need to think about the city, I need to think about my council members who are also struggling with this as well, and this moment it’s very challenging, extremely, challenging, because she was more than just the mayor for me.”
The McCowan family will hold a private funeral on Friday morning at 11 a.m. Due to covid-19 restrictions, the service will be streamed online. You can watch the livestream on Friday by clicking here.
However, the public is invited to be a part of a funeral procession and pay their final respects by lining the route.
The mayor's funeral will begin at 11 a.m. at the Kirkwood Temple CME Church in Dallas and her procession is expected to begin approximately one to two hours later. It will follow key locations in the mayor's life along the route, ending at the Holy Redeemer Cemetery by DeSoto's border with Glenn Heights.
Her family asks that people wear a mask, social distance and wear lots of red in her honor.
