P. C. “Mac” McLaurin, Jr.
Starkville
Prentiss Cortez “Mac” McLaurin, Jr., (age 80), died on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at home from cancer of the esophagus. McLaurin was a professor emeritus and retired head of the Center for Governmental Training and Technology (now the Center for Government and Community Development) in the Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service, a former alderman for the City of Starkville, and a former Starkville city chief administrative officer.
Visitation will be held from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at First Baptist Church in Starkville, immediately followed by the funeral service and committal which will also take place at the church. Dr. Andy Brown will officiate the memorial service. The interment will be held in a private family ceremony.
Active pallbearers include Ben Carver (Starkville), Mitch Thomas (Decatur), Buddy Parham (Jackson), Lee Beck (Huntsville, AL), Dan Tolar (Jackson), and Dennis Bock (Starkville).Honorary pallbearers will be the Berean Sunday School class at First Baptist.
McLaurin was born on January 22, 1943, in the historic Anderson Infirmary in Meridian, Mississippi, and was reared in Greenwood, Mississippi. His parents, who predeceased him, were Prentiss C. and Myrtle Earle Suttle McLaurin. His father was executive director of the Leflore County, MS office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s then Agriculture, Stabilization, and Conservation Service. He was also a farmer growing cotton and soybeans and raising cattle. His mother was a public school teacher.
McLaurin is survived by his wife Barbara Perry McLaurin, son Prentiss C. McLaurin III (Joanna), two grandchildren, granddaughter Stevie Lyn and grandson Cort (Prentiss C. McLaurin IV), all of Starkville, and two sisters, Janet Doty (Glenn) of Greenwood and Karen Vincent (Ronnie) of Slidell, LA, and a number of nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews.
He was a member of First Baptist Church in Starkville where he served terms as chairman of the usher and policy and personnel committees and as a member of the budget and finance committee.
Salutatorian of the Greenwood High School (GHS) class of 1960, McLaurin was selected to attend American Legion Boys’ State, to membership in the Hall of Fame and the G Club, and to receive the physics and world history awards. He played baritone saxophone and was a Captain in the GHS band. McLaurin was a charter member of the Cavaliers Bachelors Club.
McLaurin attended the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), receiving the B.A. degree in political science, mathematics, and psychology, the M.A. degree in political science, and completing all graduate course work toward the PhD in political science. While a graduate student, he received the J. W. Garner Fellowship in Political Science, was designated a University Fellow in Political Science, and was a member of Pi Sigma Alpha political science honorary.
McLaurin’s professional career spanned some 60 years of studying, teaching, researching, writing, providing technical assistance, and working in the area of local government, in three major areas of activity.
The first 10 years were spent as a faculty member in the political science department at Mississippi State University, during which time he served as chairman of the newly created John C. Stennis Scholarship Committee, a faculty representative on the University Student Publications Committee, and as faculty advisor to a number of student groups, including Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, Philo Demos honorary, Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, the pre-law club, and the karate club. McLaurin was consistently rated in the top 1% in the student evaluations of the faculty. During this decade he also held visiting faculty appointments at Millsaps College and the University of Mississippi.
The next 14 years were spent outside the academic arena as a local government practitioner. McLaurin worked for the citizens of Starkville in two positions–first as coordinator of city-federal programs, community development, and intergovernmental relations and then as chief administrative officer. During this time, he led the City’s efforts to compete successfully for over $30,000,000 in federal funds which were used for a number of major community development projects–construction of McKee and Westside Parks, construction of the wastewater treatment plant, completion of the urban renewal project, construction of streets, rehabilitation of some 200 houses, improvement of the water and sewer infrastructure, and the first major revision of the City’s comprehensive plan.
With the support and at the direction of the mayors and boards of aldermen of that period, McLaurin led the revision of most of the major internal processes of the City–personnel management, record-keeping, financial management, inventory control, purchasing, etc. During this period of time, he also held visiting teaching assignments in political science and social work at MSU.
Returning to MSU in 1989, he worked in the Center for Government Training & Technology (CGT) in the MSU Extension Service. This unit, now the Center for Government and Community Development, continues to be the major provider of educational programs and training, technical assistance, and specialized publications to city and county officials and local units of government throughout Mississippi. From 1996 until his retirement in 2010, McLaurin served as leader (head) of the CGT, also holding the position of Extension professor of local government. In addition, he helped design and participated in a number of local, MSU, and state leadership development programs, notably the Kellogg Foundation’s PRO MISS program.
During his career, McLaurin delivered some five hundred speeches, papers, seminars, workshops, and panel presentations to audiences throughout Mississippi and the region, particularly elected and appointed local government officials, on topics related to local government management and administration. Major publications include Municipal Government in Mississippi (co-editor and contributing author), County Government in Mississippi (co-editor and contributing author), and Mississippi Encyclopedia (contributor).
McLaurin was considered an expert in local and state government. A Mississippi newspaper editor described him as an individual “whose raw knowledge of both municipal and county government in Mississippi is unparalleled…his sheer knowledge of how government works and his experience have often come in to play….”
University service included membership on the advisory committee to the Union program director on Celebration of the Bicentennial of the U. S. Constitution, membership on the policies and procedures committee of the MSU police department, and election to four terms on the MSU faculty senate.
Civic involvement for McLaurin at the national and state levels included selection to membership on the Intergovernmental Relations Steering Committee and the Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee of the National Association of Counties; election to full membership in the International City-County Management Association; and election to membership on the national board of directors of Dizzy Dean Baseball, Inc.
At the state level, he served as a member of Governor Kirk Fordice’s Task Force on Governmental Accountability and Reform and memberships (Chairman) on the Committee on Supervisor Education and the Education/Certification Advisory Board for the professional educational program for county purchase, receiving, and inventory control clerks, both committees established by the Mississippi Legislature in the County Government Reform Act of 1988.
At the local level, McLaurin’s community service included member, president, and director of the Starkville Rotary Club; a director and president of the Starkville Baseball Association; director of the Starkville Post 13 American Legion baseball program; assistant manager of the Junior and Senior American Legion Baseball Teams; commissioner and member of the Investment Committee of the Golden Triangle Regional Solid Waste Management Authority; member of the Starkville Election Commission; member of the Total Quality Management Team and form of government study committee for the Starkville Area Chamber of Commerce; and director of Prairie Opportunity, Inc., the area community action agency.
Memorials may be made to the P. C. “Mac” McLaurin, Jr. Scholarship in Political Science at Mississippi State University (MSU), c/o the MSU Foundation, P. O. Box 6149, Mississippi State, MS 39762; the Starkville First Baptist Church; the Oktibbeha County Humane Society; or a charity of the donor’s choice.
