A North MS Trailblazer Is Celebrated By His Community

CHICKASAW COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)-Warren G. Cousin was a pillar in the Chickasaw County community for years.

He served as a teacher, principal, and superintendent for the Chickasaw County School District.

To honor Cousin’s legacy, the Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors held a celebration cermony to pay tribute to the life Cousin lived.

“He was always outgoing, he was always looking out for others and trying to make the best better not only for his immediate family but for the community and especially for the children whom he taught,” said Zora Cousin, Warren’s widow.

Zora and Warren were married for 66 years.  She said her husband was an educator for 44 years,  and  education was one of his main principles.

“When I met him at Mary Holmes, he asked me to get married, and he said well if you marry me I’ll see to it that you get an education,” said Cousin. “Of course, I was just beginning college at that time, but I continued and I received a BS at rust college and a masters from Mississippi state University.”

Cousin also served in the U.S Army for two years and is a World War II veteran.

That discipline he received while being in the army, is what he also instilled in his children.

“Not only just for us, but he taught people how to stand up for themselves, stand up for what you believe in regardless if you have to stand by yourself,” said Warren Cousin Jr. “One of the things he always said was, think little you do little, but if you think big, then you do big.”

Cousin Jr, said  his dad was a mentor to the other kids in the community, and loved going out into the community and bringing those same kids to church.

To show their appreciation for Cousin, the Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors named a street after Mr. Cousin in Chickasaw County on Saturday.

“There’s not a week that goes by that I don’t meet somebody somewhere that says something about my father,” said Cousin Jr. “I knew he came in contact with a lot of people but I didn’t realize it until he was gone, passed on, how many lives he affected, and not just blacks, it’s whites, parents, students, I mean you’d be surprised.”

 
Warren cousin died in August of 2014 at the age of 93.

He attended Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, and prior to him passing away, Cousin was the oldest member at the church.