Funeral services announced for DeSoto Mayor Curtistene McCowan

Visitation and funeral arrangements have been announced for DeSoto Mayor Curtistene McCowan, who died of lung cancer last week.

The McCowan family said visitation will be from 1 to 6 p.m. Thursday at the Kirkwood Temple Christian Methodist Episcopal Church at 1440 Sunny Glen Drive in Dallas. The visitation is open to the public, but all in attendance will be required to wear masks and adhere to COVID-19 precautions.

A private funeral service for the family will begin Friday at 11 a.m. Residents can view the services on a livestream that will be hosted on he church’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

McCowan will be interred at Holy Redeemer Cemetery at 1500 S. Westmoreland Road in DeSoto following the funeral service. In a news release, the city said residents are welcome to pay their respects to the mayor during the processional to the cemetery, with the route to be announced later this week.

Dozens of loved ones and supporters gathered Sunday in the parking lot of Disciple Central Community Church in DeSoto to remember McCowan.

“She had a way, even though she had a lot of power, a lot of influence, to make you feel like you’re the most important person in the room,” Marcus D. King, the church’s pastor.

The city honored McCowan, who was 72, by lowering flags to half-staff for several days last week, and by asking city employees to wear red, her sorority’s color.

“I believe Mayor McCowan would have been deeply moved by the outpouring of love, especially from our workers who wore red in her honor,” City Manager Brandon Wright said in a news release. “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.”

In lieu of flowers, residents can honor the late mayor with donations to a scholarship fund established through the Concerned DeSoto Citizens organization, which McCowan helped create.