DeSoto Mayor Curtistene S. McCowan died Wednesday at 72 years old, the City of DeSoto said in a news release. The two-term mayor was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier in October, the news release said.
McCowan made DeSoto history in 1990 when she was the first Black person elected to public office in the city as a member of the DeSoto Independent School District Board of Trustees. She served on the school board for six years, two of those as the board's president.
In 2007, after more than 30 years of work in education in and out of DeSoto ISD, the school board named a middle school after her.
Before she was elected mayor in 2016 (and re-elected in 2019), McCowan had been a member of the DeSoto City Council for four years. Before that, she was on the DeSoto Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors for five years.
She also, along with her husband Leon, founded Concerned DeSoto Citizens, and had been active with that educational assistance organization for 31 years.
In addition to all of those honors and the other titles she held in the DeSoto community, McCowan was also a 32-year federal government employee; she was the senior investigator for the Federal Trade Commission’s Southwest Regional Office for more 18 years.
"Mayor McCowan will be deeply missed by the DeSoto City Council and City staff who have worked closely with her during her years of service," the City of DeSoto communications manager Matt Smith wrote in a Wednesday news release.
McCowan is survived by her husband Leon, whom she was married to for 54 years, and their two sons Danny Sebastian (Angie) and Leon Curtis (Stephanie) McCowan.
She had three grandchildren: Tiana, Kirsten, and Taylor.
The visitation and funeral services will be held at the Kirkwood Temple CME Episcopal Church, located at 1440 Sunny Glen Drive in Dallas.
The visitation service will be held Thursday, Nov. 5 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The family says it’s open to the public, with everyone in attendance adhering to the proper COVID-19 precautions.
The funeral will take place Friday, Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. The family says due to the number of family members attending, the service will be private. However, the community is invited to watch the service on YouTube or the Kirkwood Temple – Kirkwood Event Facebook page. Click here for the YouTube link.
The processional to the cemetery will include a pre-announced route through DeSoto, where residents can pay their respects to McCowan, the family says.
