- “I’ve been knocked around, I’ve been kicked around,” Sen. David Jordan said. “But I still love people.”
State Senator David Jordan (D) bid farewell to his colleagues on Wednesday after serving 33 years in the Mississippi Senate representing Leflore, Panola, and Tallahatchie counties in District 24.
“I hate to leave, but my wife of 71 years… she needs me at home,” the 92-year-old Jordan told senators. “I love you, I respect you, I am going to miss you.”
The senator was honored with a resolution recognizing him as “a dedicated public servant with extensive experience” on the opening day of the special session.
Jordan served on nearly every Senate Committee, from Agriculture to Veterans Affairs, during his more than three decades as a State Senator. He currently serves as chairman of Enrolled Bills.
In his biography, From the Cotton Fields to State Senator, Jordan detailed his humble begins and thirst for knowledge.
Born during the Great Depression in the Mississippi Delta, the son of a sharecropper, Jordan recalled walking four miles to school. One year, he did not start until December, while the “city kids” started months earlier.
“When the teacher asked where I had been, I told her picking cotton. The city kids laughed,” he recalled, noting country kids did not start until the cotton was picked.
Jordan graduated at 20, worked as a dishwasher, then a cook at a Holiday Inn while attending Mississippi Valley State University, all the while helping to raise four children with his wife.
He eventually headed to graduate school in Wyoming and taught chemistry for three decades in a Mississippi public school. During a conversation with Magnolia Tribune earlier this year, Jordan said students do better when expectations are clearly outlined.
Jordan’s dedication to public service was highlighted during a speech by his son, a doctor in Tennessee. He said his father served 30 years in the classroom, 30 on the Greenwood city council, and 33 in the Mississippi Senate.
His son said his father “never had to approach the podium with a scandal or inappropriate behavior.”
Jordan said he is writing a new book, this one titled Potholes of Life, with the hope of helping the next generation of youth make smart life choices.
“I’ve been knocked around, I’ve been kicked around,” Jordan said. “But I still love people.”
Jordan’s retirement will necessitate the need for a special election to fulfil the remainder of the current term. Governor Tate Reeves (R) will call for the special election once Jordan has vacated the seat.
Daniel Tyson
