Back in 2000, we moved here to Decatur, where we were warmly received and have since enjoyed residing. One of the experiences I personally enjoyed so much was singing in the Clarke-Venable Baptist Church choir for a number of years. During that time, I got to know Mrs. Charlotte Ann Griffin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Comans, and sister of Cheryl Comans and Catherine Horton. Recently, we met at the church to talk and “kept our distance,” sharing information, memories and tears, as we rejoiced at how our Savior has brought us through so many of life’s blessings and trials.
Charlotte, the middle child of the family, was born in April of 1963. She graduated from Decatur High School in 1981, having served as editor of the school newspaper. She was head cheerleader there and at East Central Junior College. At ECJC, a class officer and member of Phi Theta Kappa, she graduated in 1983. A Dean’s Scholar at Mississippi State University, she graduated in 1986 with a B.S. in Business Administration.
After college, she became employed by ESCO for about 12 years, working in accounting. She married Scott Griffin in March 1988. In 1992, Charlotte became the mother of twins, Kirk and Claire, and John Ross was born in 1997. When the children were young, she became a stay-at-home mom for about 1½ years, before filling a part-time position in the Chancery Clerk’s office for ten years. She is now a Member Services’ Representative for Southern Pine Electric, where she has been employed for nine years.
Claire and Kirk graduated from Newton County High School in 2011 and John Ross in 2016. Claire went on to earn her B.S. and a Master’s in Social Work from Delta State University and Ole Miss respectively. She now lives and works in this field in Floral City, Florida. Kirk graduated from East Central before earning his B.S. in Business Administration from Mississippi State. He now works at Raytheon and serves in the Mississippi Air National Guard. John Ross is a student at Mississippi State University working on his degree in Civil Engineering.
In 1972, when Charlotte was nine, she attended the James Robison Crusade that was held at the East Central football field and responded to the invitation with a friend. She made her public profession of faith later at church and was baptized. She continued, “I was rebaptized at a county-wide crusade in the late 80s, when I was 26 or 27. I rededicated my life to God. The crusade was also at the football field, with a lot of churches involved.”
Through the years, Charlotte has served in several positions at CVBC, from Nursery Coordinator to Sunday School teacher, and Children’s Choir leader. Becoming divorced almost ten years ago, Charlotte testified, “Through my toughest times, through a lot of prayer, God always met my needs. Prayer has just carried me through. Whether or not you can see it, He’s always at work. Always. You have to learn to just trust.”
Charlotte assured me that so much of her ability to trust God came from the Bible teaching she and her sisters received from her mother and the church attendance that her mother insisted be a constant in their lives. Ms. Glenda taught Sunday School, Training Union, at Clarke-Venable Baptist Church for many years. Charlotte also told me that a lot of her faith came from observing the way her father lived out his own Christian faith, as he loved and served the public.
Mr. Raymond Comans, son of John and Evie Comans, and with eight siblings, was born in Dixon, Mississippi, in 1930. An interesting side note to his story is that of his great-grandfather having come to America from Ireland during the potato famine there. He was a Catholic priest but converted here to become a Presbyterian. Charlotte says the large extended family has a multitude of denominational memberships.
Young Raymond graduated from Stratton High School in about 1948, attended East Central Junior College and the University of Southern Mississippi, served in the military, then married Glenda B. Comans from Scott County. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Comans lived in Forest a couple years before making Decatur their home. They were married sixty-four years.
Mrs. Comans was a stay-at-home mom until she opened a clothing store in Decatur, later turning it into a tanning salon. She also taught piano, having learned in public school, and did income taxes for the general public for decades.
Charlotte’s father sold furniture in Union, continuing to travel to sell furniture in later years, even while serving as a much-respected Mississippi State Representative. He excelled, was awarded the Distinguished Salesman Award numerous times through the years, and was grateful to the F. A. Hulett & Son Company of Meridian, Mississippi, for the important position this company had in his career and for his family.
In 1963 Mr. Comans was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives and served from 1964 until 1976. He was later re-elected in 1984. He worked to have legislation passed for funding of libraries and junior colleges throughout the state, especially for East Central Junior College, and to four-lane Highway 15. Charlotte told me, “He never voted for anything that conflicted with the Christian faith or anything that was detrimental to the family.” He served until his retirement in 2000, having been a Mississippi House Representative for 28 years.
Charlotte is very proud of the work her father did while in office. She commented, “He was very devoted to the Christian conservative agenda and always had the working man at heart. He was a people person, also the common man’s representative. He was intensely against gambling, because he said it tears up families. And he definitely had a heart for the mentally ill.”
She said he told her, not too long before he died, of an experience he had as a little boy. She recalls him saying how he rode with his parents when they took a neighbor to see a family member in Whitfield, an institution for the mentally ill. As he waited out in the yard, he observed a lot of these patients. She quoted her father as saying, ‘I made myself a promise. If there was ever anything I could do to help these people, I’d do it.’ He never forgot! Maybe fifty years later, he made good on that promise.”
She explained how he met the Director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health in an elevator in Jackson, shortly after Clarke College had closed down. He approached the man and asked him about converting the vacant campus into a mental health facility. With his agreement, that was the origin of Central Mississippi Regional Center in Newton, Mississippi.
Concerning the present situation, Charlotte commented, “We need to pull together in these times. We need to all be doing our part, be a part of the solution and not part of the problem. Nothing lasts forever, except the love of God. He never changes.”
Live for Jesus! He’s coming soon!
You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
