MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Blount, Frazier, Butler (38th), Jackson (11th), Jackson (32nd), Simmons (12th)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF GENE TRIGGS, SR., OF CLINTON, A BUSINESS, CIVIC, UNIVERSITY, POLITICAL AND CHURCH LEADER IN MISSISSIPPI FOR FOUR DECADES.
WHEREAS, Gene A. Triggs, Sr., of Clinton, a business, civic and church leader in Mississippi for four decades, passed away November 27, 2013; and
WHEREAS, Gene Triggs was born on August 31, 1928, on his family's farm in Forrest County, Mississippi. He attended public schools in Forrest County, leaving Eatonville High School after his junior year to attend Clarke Community College on a basketball scholarship. He graduated from Mississippi State University in 1950 and enlisted in the Army during the Korean Conflict, rising from the rank of Private to Captain; and
WHEREAS, following his military service, he taught school and then served as an Assistant County Agent and County Agent for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service. He became Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture for Mississippi in 1958; and
WHEREAS, Gene left the Department of Agriculture to manage Paul Johnson's successful campaign for Governor in 1963 and later served as Executive Director of the State Agriculture and Industrial Board, the predecessor of the Department of Economic and Community Development. He resigned from the A&I Board to manage William Winter's Campaign for Governor in 1967. Following that campaign, he joined the Mississippi Chemical Corporation in Yazoo City and occupied a number of roles between 1967 and his retirement in 1993, including Vice President of Administration and Vice President of Government Relations; and
WHEREAS, Gene Triggs was a former Chair of the Mississippi Economic Council and the Mississippi Manufacturers Association. He also served as a member of the Board and Executive Committee of the Agricultural Cooperative Development International, a not-for-profit formed by U.S. Agricultural Cooperatives to promote international development, and a board member of the Fertilizer Institute. He was also a founder and leader of Mississippi AHEAD, a statewide program to four-lane secondary roads throughout Mississippi. He received the Mississippi Industrial Man of the Year Award in 1982; and
WHEREAS, always active in the church, his many roles in Baptist life included serving as a member of the Southern Baptist Convention's Foreign Mission Board for 12 years and as its Chair for four years. He was also a former Board Member of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and past President of the Mississippi Baptist Foundation. He was also a founder of Agricultural Missions Foundation, an organization that supported the work of agricultural missionaries outside the United States; and
WHEREAS, Gene Triggs was a member of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi State University Foundation, a fellow of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and a member of the Mississippi Department of Agriculture Hall of Fame. Passionately committed to public education, he founded and led the Mississippian's for Public Education in the 1970s and 1980s. He was also a committed Rotarian for 50 years; and
WHEREAS, Gene is survived by his wife of 61 years, Robbie Perry Triggs; son, Austin Triggs (Betsy) of Nashville, Tennessee; daughter, Joy Tyner (William) of Clinton, Mississippi; sister, Mary Lou Sims of Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and three grandchildren; and
WHEREAS, it is with sadness that we note the passing of this most public spirited citizen of Mississippi whose enormous civic energy will be missed:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby pay tribute to the memory of Gene Triggs, Sr., of Clinton, Mississippi, a business, civic, university, political and church leader in our state for four decades, and extend our sympathy and the thanks of a grateful state to his surviving family.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Mr. Trigg's surviving family and transmitted to the Mississippi Economic Council and the Mississippi Manufacturers Association, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.