“My name is Lena Mae Regan. I raise a few goats, a few cows and a lot of hell.”
That was my first introduction to Ms. Lena Mae Regan when I was the new managing editor of The Yazoo Herald, and quite frankly I was skeptical if this sweet little woman with deep wrinkles was actually raising much of anything.
I was mistaken.
Ms. Lena Mae raised plenty of hell. That’s not something I would normally write in this newspaper, but when it came to her I mean it in a good way.
Ms. Lena Mae was one of a kind. She was already a senior citizen when I met her, and her small size was very deceptive. She was tougher than most people I know.
She once pulled a gun on a man trying to examine her property for the tax assessor’s office.
She won a battle with Mississippi Chemical Corporation to gain access to an old family cemetery.
She “raised hell” when she found a family section of Glenwood Cemetery in subpar condition, and the problem was corrected. I was thankful for that because she had come to me looking for help if the city failed to do the right thing.
I always got a kick out of Ms. Lena Mae’s rants, because she had such a colorful way of expressing her opinion, and she pulled no punches. Once when telling the Board of Supervisors how disgusted she was with the condition of Graball Freerun Road, she told the board “I like to have shook my gizzard out just driving here to tell y’all about it.”
The Board of Supervisors was well aware of the wrath of Ms. Lena Mae. She closely followed our newspaper, and if the county was planning to raise taxes, they could count on a visit from her during the public hearing.
One of my favorite comments from her during a public hearing was, “I ain’t got nothing but a few cows left, and the next thing I know y’all are going to be trying to tax my damn cows.”
The late District 4 Supervisor Ed Dew was one of the toughest men who ever lived, and even he was at a loss for words sometimes when he was on the receiving end of a scoldingg from Ms. Lena Mae.
Ms. Lena Mae was outspoken and tough as nails, but she was also unusually kind.
She often called me to tell me how much she appreciated something we had done in the newspaper, and she usually told me she loved me before she said goodbye. That caught me off guard at first, but I came to realize that she meant it.
And I loved her too.
She often called me with ideas about problems the newspaper could help solve in our community, and we almost always got the job done.
Her most recent crusade was getting the speed limit reduced on Highway 16 near Benton Academy. She had been talking to some of the people at the Mississippi Department of Transportation for years about having the speed limits reduced in the Benton area for years, and a fatal accident involving a couple of high school students inspired her to make it a priority.
“I’m calling you because I know that if anyone can get it done – you can,” Ms. Lena Mae said when she first called me about the issue. I did not share her confidence in my ability to change it, but I knew that with her backing the issue there was a good chance it would happen.
I never saw her lose a fight.
I was shocked when I heard the news Friday night that she had passed away. Ms. Lena Mae was so tough that I guess I thought she’d live forever. I remember one time when I didn’t hear from her for awhile and when I called to check on her she had injured her leg in a tractor accident. She was still driving a tractor and working the farm in her 80s.
But even the strongest of us can’t live forever, and although I’m going to miss Lena Mae Regan it’s not hard to celebrate a life that was always lived on her terms. She may have been outspoken and tough as nails, but she was a kind and caring person who always wanted to do the right thing. She understood that sometimes you have to step on some toes to get the job done.
I’ve never thought of Heaven as a place where a whole lot of “hellraising” gets done, but I’m betting an exception was made for Lena Mae Regan. I just hope those streets of gold are in good condition. If not, they’ll be hearing from Ms. Lena Mae.
