DeSoto lowers flags to half-staff in memory of Mayor Curtistene McCowan, who died this week

As the DeSoto community and beyond mourns the sudden death of 72-year-old Mayor Curtistene McCowan, the city is finding ways to honor her work, according to a news release.

Flags will be flown at half-staff until Sunday at sunset, and city staff members have been encouraged to wear red Friday, a color McCowan proudly wore as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

“We are asking that the City of DeSoto’s workforce put away their Halloween Costumes and wear red in honor of and to show their appreciation for Mayor McCowan,” city manager Brandon Wright said in the news release.

The city is also asking staffers to post photos of their red attire online to show how much the mayor meant to DeSoto.

McCowan became the first woman to be elected mayor of DeSoto in 2016. She was also the first African-American elected to public office in the city when she won a seat on the DeSoto ISD Board of Trustees in 1990.

Funeral arrangements are pending, but services will be held at the Kirkwood Temple CME Church at 1440 Sunny Glen Drive in Dallas, where the mayor was a longtime member and chairwoman of the board.