Jackson Free Press

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors dedicated Monday morning's meeting to the memory of District 2 Supervisor Doug Anderson, who passed away April 13.

Anderson was admitted to the intensive care unit at St. Dominic's Hospital last week, and succumbed Saturday after spending 36 of his 74 years representing Jackson and Hinds County.

"Honorable Supervisor Douglas Anderson, former state senator, has died," Rep. Earle Banks, D-Jackson, wrote on his Facebook page. "He was a great man and leader in our state, county and city. May the angels in heaven come and meet his soul and take him to the everlasting glory of our God."

A Jackson native and the 11th of 12 children, Anderson held a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Dillard University in New Orleans and a master's degree from Oklahoma University in Norman, Okla. Anderson served as an educator from 1965 to 1987 in the Meridian Public Schools, Jackson Public Schools and was an assistant professor of mathematics at Jackson State University.

Anderson was first elected to office in 1976 as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives. In 1980, he was elected to the Mississippi State Senate where he served until 1992. In all, Anderson spent more than 36 years in public life, the last 19 years on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.

In 2011, Anderson, who was a diabetic, suffered from several small strokes, making his active participation on the board problematic. Last December, he resigned his board seat, but rescinded the resignation a month later because he did not agree with the person chosen to replace him.

Now, the board must either appoint a temporary replacement or set a special election for his seat. The board did not make that decision Monday morning at the first meeting since Anderson's death.

He is survived by his wife, the former Josephine Funches, and three children, Denise, Doug Jr., and Jackie, according to his official biography.

No arrangements for funeral service have been announced.

The news of Anderson's passing came on the heels of the death of Jimmie Lewis, the former director of the Hinds County Emergency Operations Center. The former firefighter and lead male vocalist for the Mississippi Mass Choir died April 2, at the age of 55, after a prolonged battle with cancer.