Samuel Echols was laid to rest on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. Allow us to share his story.
On a cold and rainy Sunday morning of March 13, 1927, Ida Mae Echols gave birth to the first of six children, Samuel Lorenzo Echols in the community of Blue Springs, (Columbia, Miss.). Samuel’s parents had dated a mere six weeks when his father asked his mother, Ida, for her hand in marriage. They had been introduced by the keenly observing mail carriers in their respective communities of Darbun and Blue Springs. Lorenzo (Bud) was a minister and general store owner and Ida was a teacher.
During early childhood, Samuel attended Blue Springs School, a part of the Blue Springs CME Church. However, when Samuel’s parents, Ida and Lorenzo (Bud), bought land in the Little Rock community of west Marion County, Samuel lived with relatives in Blue Springs in order to attend Lamarion, which only extended into the 11th grade. Samuel's continuous completion was impeded by a bout with pneumonia. But he remained determined.
He completed his 12th-grade year at Hope School in Walthall County for the completion of his senior year. Later in life he said his folks moved to a west Marion community where he had no teen friends, and the move was sad for him.
For two years, his academic growth was again delayed when his 74-year old father asked him to delay academic pursuit in order to help on the farm. Samuel’s mother was 24 years old and his father 52 years old when Samuel was born. Since that time several children were born, but there was much farm and field work needed for the wellbeing of the family.
Samuel loved education. He continued to ask his father that if he could not attend Tuskegee, he wanted to attend Alcorn. He longed to attend Tuskegee Institute. His father had purchased a book about Dr. Booker T Washington and the research of Dr. George Washington Carver.
Samuel was 22 years old on the day that he left for Alcorn. He had finally received permission from the elder Echols after plowing cotton all day. He left with $5 in his pocket and no more tuition. Upon arriving at Alcorn, he got a job in the library, the dairy alongside a $25 Sears Roebuck Scholarship.
Samuel graduated from Alcorn in 1953 and was immediately drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict. Afterwards, he returned to the Pinegrove School in Walthall County to teach. He had earned a BA in agricultural education but returned to ASU for a certification in secondary math education. The latter certification allowed him to teach math because there were no agricultural education jobs available.
Soon thereafter, he was offered a position in Marion County as an agricultural teacher where he served until his retirement in 1993. Samuel earned a master’s of education from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La.
It is important to know that Samuel commuted to Southern University during this time period of racial segregation, African Americans were not allowed to attend predominantly white universities, and he desired a graduate degree. Southern University offered a graduate degree and hence he became a commuter. He also asked Veolar Magee to be his wife and she said, “I do.” Veolar has stood by her husband’s side for 64 years. With their union, they joined St. Luke’s Methodist Church, now Hub Chapel United Methodist Church.
When asked how the marriage lasted so long, she says, “My husband has been good to me. I handled him with kid gloves. I respected him as the head of our home. I bossed too… I just let him think he was bossing.” She laughs and continues, “I handled my husband with kid gloves. When we disagreed, which we seldom did, I’d fuss and he remained silent. You can argue with yourself.”
Most recently she laments, even when her husband was in the deepest pain, he did not use profanity. He respected God and family. Samuel called this kind of bad communication, “earthly language.”
Samuel acquired additional post graduate education at Fresno State and Arizona State before completing a Triple A Certificate in education at Mississippi State University.
Amongst his many civic and community services, Samuel Echols served faithfully in the Frank D.E. Hendricks, Post 5393. Samuel has held membership in alumni of Mississippi State, Southern University and his most loved, Alcorn State University. He also had membership in the Colored Farmers of America, the Future Farmers of America and the Forestry Association. In his later years, he also was a member of the Marion County General Hospital Board and the Magee’s Creek Water Association. Last but not least, he proudly earned the ranks of Grand Worshipful Master at Masonic Lodge, in the Little Rock Lodge #592, F&M P.H.A.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Lorenzo (Bud) and Ida (Magee) Echols; sisters, Avinell (Echols) Brewer, Mabel (Echols) McGowan, Francis Echols and Frank Echols.
Samuel Lorenzo is survived by his wife, Veolar Magee Echols; and their children, Monica Echols, Celina Echols, Glossie Echols and Quenyatta Echols-Williams; five grandchildren, Carmen Echols Hurrsadine, Moses Williams, Ora Williams, Samuel Echols and Emery Alexander; and two great-grandchildren, Adam and Khajiah Hurrisadine. Many nieces, nephews and external family members also make up Samuel’s village of loving kins.
