Pine Bluff lost one of its greatest advocates recently when Mary Jo McCord passed away. We knew her for many years and always enjoyed seeing her face at City Council meetings.
For those who don’t know, Mary Jo was very active in local politics, unafraid to share her opinion and offer a voice of reason in an often unreasonable city. She was also a regular letter writer to the Commercial. We remember her coming in with letter after letter, all filled with heart-felt, carefully written words.
We take our hats off now to remember Mary Jo and those like her who have made even the smallest difference in this community. We like to think Mary Jo made a big difference, because she took her civic duty to heart. She rarely missed a City Council meeting and always participated in the public comments when an issue had her riled.
We wish more of our residents could be like that, unafraid to stand up and willing to speak out against wrong.
After her death, Pine Bluff Alderman Bill Brumett offered these words on his Facebook page: “Will miss this sweet lady at city council meetings. She stood up for what was right. Love to family from Ms Judy and I. Bless you !!”
We are also told that Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth sent her condolences to the family as well.
This will be Mary Jo’s last appearance on our editorial page, so it’s only fitting that we present you with a beautiful letter written to us by her daughter, Delene Broeckling.
Delene, please accept our condolences on the loss of your dear mother. We will always remember her, and she will forever live on in the archives of this publication. Following is the letter we received from Delene:
“There may be a few of you Pine Bluff Commercial readers that have been missing the musings of Mary Jo McCord, wondering what could have silenced her. Many of you may have agreed with Mary Jo’s political opinions, and others may not, but you could always count on her to provide well thought out, eloquent commentary for the editor.
“Mary Jo was passionate about Pine Bluff, Arkansas and supported Mayor Hollingsworth with fervor. She wanted to see Pine Bluff revived and thriving again.
“Sadly Mary Jo’s voice was silenced permanently when she was placed on a ventilator last month. She communicated to her family on September 24 that she wished to be removed from life support. Her family respectfully honored her wishes.
“Citizens of Pine Bluff don’t give up. Continue to work to make Pine Bluff the city it once was. Draw inspiration from that fiery red head, my mother, Mary Jo McCord.”
Rest in peace, Mary Jo. You are missed.