Former Mississippi Senator Delma Furniss was laid to rest Saturday in his beloved Coahoma County.
One of ten children, Vernon Delma Furniss was born in Belen, Mississippi, July 30, 1934, to Alvy George and Gertrude Mary Alice Ferguson Furniss.
According to Delma's mother, when Delma was two years old, on a cold wintry day in February, his family relocated from the land they were renting near Marks, to Rena Lara.
The Furniss family became proud participants in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Resettlement Administration Farmers Security Program, where the Furniss' were provided with a small acreage (part of the old Walnut Grove Plantation) to work in exchange for the option to purchase the land. The payment for the farm was $212.45 each year for 40 years and the Furniss' managed to pay for the farm seven or eight years early.
Delma loved the land and his community, Rena Lara.
On November 23, 1999, in an article to The Clarksdale Press Register, Delma wrote "In the beginning God did make the heaven and the earth, the land and the water, and everything therein. And this included the area where Rena Lara, Mississippi, is presently located." Delma lived within a few feet of that homestead until his death on Jan. 31, 2022, some 85 years later.
As a child, Delma loved to hunt and fish. He particularly liked to squirrel hunt and fish for crappie and catfish.
For many years, when the Mississippi River would rise, he would take a week's vacation and spend it with his kids doing a marathon catfishing adventure behind the levee on Desoto Lake, not too far from the Bud and Sue Roark family home. As an avid outdoorsman, Delma became an Eagle Scout and often told his children about winning a state Boy Scout record—the challenge was to start a small fire in a fire pit (for survival training) in record time by using only a homemade bow fashioned out of a stick and string—no matches allowed.
Delma graduated from Sunflower School and later helped establish a non-profit Commission through the automobile tag program to fund maintenance of the school after it closed. (The Sunflower School closed in 1964.) The Sunflower Consolidated Preservation Commission, Inc., with the help of Delma, leased the building and grounds in March 1990. The Commission's goal is to restore the school building. The Commission hopes to purchase the land and building from the Coahoma County Board of Education and make it a museum. Delma looked forward to getting together with friends and enjoyed the fish fries and serving soft serve ice cream from Edie's ice cream machine. As you will see, Delma's education at Sunflower School served him well and he was proud to have attended school there.
Delma (or as his coworkers on the railroad affectionately called him "Fireball") was a believer in education. He received a bachelor's degree in English, History, and Political Science from Delta State University, earning a perfect 4.0 GPA while working full time on the Illinois Central Railroad. He went on to earn a master's degree in History from the University of Mississippi, again with a 4.0 GPA. Delma held memberships in the Delta State University and the University of Mississippi Alumni Associations, the Clarksdale-Coahoma Chamber of Commerce, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Gamma Mu, Phi Alpha Theta, and Lambda Iota Tau Fraternities.
Delma loved God, his family, his church, his community, and the state of Mississippi.
He loved Edith "Edie" Roark. They were married for over 50 years, until her passing in 2004. To honor Edie, Delma set up the Edie Furniss LPN Scholarship in 1993 to be awarded annually to a graduate of Coahoma Community College who is over 25 years of age and who has overcome many obstacles to receive her/his degree. Delma wanted to honor Edie, who received her LPN degree at age 31 and her RN degree at age 34, overcoming many obstacles to receive her education. Edie and Delma had four children, who benefited from mom and dad's love of family and education. Jerry Furniss, who became an attorney and business law professor, Jan Furniss, who went on to become a successful OBGYN physician, Jeffery Furniss, who became a whiz in Nuclear Medicine, and Julia Furniss-Roberts, who became a caring nurse practitioner. The childhood years in Rena Lara were filled with lots of joy. Delma and Edie provided a very loving family life, and while all of us kids are heartbroken, we have also been extremely fortunate and blessed to be raised in Rena Lara by such loving parents.
Delma loved his church family as well—Rena Lara Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon since 1975. His brother, Herman, and his sister-in-law, Imogene, gave him his Bible when he was ordained as a deacon in 1975. He established a goal of reading his Bible every day since 1975. He missed three days (he read after midnight on those three days, so he did not count them). In 2000, he committed to completely reading his Bible from cover to cover each year—he succeeded in that goal for the last 21 years.
Delma worked tirelessly on many church projects over the years, but he was most fond of his duties caring for the flowers on the church grounds. He could work all day on the flower beds in the hot Delta sun and he received great joy from knowing others would enjoy the flowers and that the church would be a beautiful place to come and worship. In fact, Delma even wrote a poem about flowers entitled "The Church Gardener- I hope there's a weed field in heaven." One excerpt from the poem is:
"The Lord's house ought to be the prettiest house in town, and these flowers help make it that way." "I want millions of weeds there to symbolically represent all my many, many sins God has forgiven me here on this earth," he continued. "I'll replace each weed with a beautiful flower throughout all eternity."
In his will, Deacon and Gardener Delma Furniss made a provision for a gift to the Rena Lara Baptist Church to support grounds upkeep so that the flowers will continue to bloom in Rena Lara.
On February 16, 1999, Delma received a patent for a quick reference Bible that he called the FEN (Furniss Edition Numbered) Bible. Delma dreamed of having a reference Bible that incorporated many of the different versions and editions of the Bible to make it easier for congregations to follow along with their pastors during church services. His patent was for a "method of modifying and arranging Bible text and identifying Bible text pages for publishing quick-reference Bibles." Delma was actively working on getting a publisher for the FEN Bible at the time of his death.
Not to rest too long, in 2003 Senator Delma Furniss introduced a state song that he had written as Senate Bill 2217 to adopt "My Home Mississippi" as the official state song. Delma was still working on getting this job done up until the time of his passing. This song is reflective of a song that all Mississippians could embrace. Included below are the first and last verses:
MY HOME MISSISSIPPI
O my heart is filled with joy ev-'ry morning as I rise,
Just to have another day beneath your warm and friendly skies,
And to share with friend and neighbor all your bountiful supplies;
You are so good to me!
When my final bell comes ringing - be it morning, noon or night;
When He raps upon my portal, and my spirit takes its flight;
As they lay me in your bosom, ev-'ry thing will be all right;
You've been so good to me!
Warm and friendly, Mississippi,
One and only, Mississippi,
I do love you, Mississippi,
My home you'll always be!
While his career on the railroad was winding down, Delma was building up steam pursuing another career where he could make a positive difference for fellow Mississippians. Delma was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1984 to 1993. He then was a member of the Mississippi State Senate from 1993 until his retirement in December 2003. Upon retirement, Senate Resolution 109 said the following about Senator Delma Furniss: "Senator Furniss served in the House of Representatives from 1984-1993, and has served in the Senate from 1993 to the present, and has taken a leading role in virtually every meaningful economic development, agriculture, health care and progressive education program in his district during his tenure; he has been a champion of veterans' rights, taking an extremely active role in the development of the States Veterans' Homes, the Mississippi Vietnam Monument Commission and the Youth Challenge Program operated at Camp Shelby; took a particular interest in assisting the Mississippi Firefighters Memorial Burn Center at Delta Regional Hospital by sponsoring legislation creating a special trust fund for burn victims…."
"Senator Furniss served with distinction, and we will miss his friendship."
Delma's colleagues in the Mississippi State Legislature thought so much of his service in general and more specifically with his tireless efforts on the Highway 61 four lane project that they dedicated the Hospitality Center in his honor. On March 13, 2003, the state of Mississippi declared that "The state hospitality station constructed and located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 49 and U.S. Highway 61 in Coahoma County is designated and shall be known as the Senator Delma Furniss Hospitality Station."
Delma is survived by his four children, Jerry Furniss (Shannon) of Missoula, Montana, Dr. Jan Furniss (Bob Lowry) of Bentonville, Arkansas, Jeff Furniss (Laurel) of Frenchtown, Montana, and Julia Furniss-Roberts (Larry Roberts) of Gravette, Arkansas; grandchildren Ben Lowry, Sam Lowry, Ashley Smith, Candace Goodman, Jasmine Gagnon, Joshua Delma Furniss, Jacob Furniss, Shaun Bramlett, Derek Bramlett, Edie Furniss, Lesli Stearns, Paige Furniss, Bobby Jahrig, Cody Jahrig; great grandchildren Connor Goodman, Sidney Gagnon, Dylan Bramlett, Rayna Bramlett. Delma was predeceased by his wife, Edith Roark Furniss, his second wife, Doris Evelyn Furniss, parents, Gertie and A.G. Furniss, and nine siblings—his brothers Hubert Furniss, George Furniss, Edward Furniss, Herman Furniss, W.G. Furniss, and "little" Howard Furniss, and sisters Juanita Anderson, Annie Pearl Russell, Isabel Dill.
Services will be held on Saturday February 5th at the Rena Lara Baptist Church (Rena Lara, MS). Visitation will be at 1 pm, followed by the service at 2 pm. Brother Rusty Robertson will officiate. Graveside service will follow immediately at Memorial Garden Cemetery in Lyon, MS. Meredith-Nowell Funeral Home in Clarksdale, MS is handling the arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Rena Lara Baptist Church, P.O. Box 118 Rena Lara, MS 38767.
