Bennie Stone Gooden, friend of Clarksdale, dies

By DEBORAH COLE, Staff Writer,

Monday, February 23, 2009 8:52 AM CST

Clarksdale lost one of its beloved community leaders Thursday. Citizens throughout the community are mourning the loss of Bennie S. Gooden, long-time real estate developer and housing advocate for persons in need of affordable housing.

Gooden passed away at the Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center from an illness from which he had been fighting for approximately two months. Gooden was preceded in death by his wife, Addie, and is survived by six children, all living in Clarksdale and the surrounding area.

“He was a strong pioneer for human rights, civil rights, housing, and a great role model for all people. His entrepreneurship will last for years as will the legacy he leaves in Clarksdale, the state, and the nation. We will all miss him dearly,” the Honorable Henry Espy, Mayor of Clarksdale, said about his friend.

Gooden was a leader to many and an advocate for the disadvantaged and poor. He served on a wide array of commissions, boards, committees, councils during his life which was devoted to his family, church, and community.

“I think that all of Southland Management will remember Mr. Gooden for his kind, caring and giving ways. He believed that providing safe, decent and sanitary housing was his mission in life,” state Vivian Johnson, Northern Region Supervisor for Southland Management Corporation. “Therefore, he worked hard and worked us hard making sure that we looked after the “physical integrity” of the properties. He was a leader and we respected his leadership. He retired just over two years ago but his spirit was always here. But, his driving force was the scripture found in Luke 12:48: “To whom much is given much will be required.” He gave his all,” she continued.

Gooden begin his career in real estate as a housing advocate for affordable housing,  He became a Certified Real Estate Manager through the National Real Estate Management Brokers Institute and was a licensed real estate salesman.

“He was someone you could count on,” said U. S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, a close friend of Gooden’s. “He had the best laugh of anyone I knew. He was a very positive person and he demonstrated it every day.”
Gooden and Thompson worked closely over the years on housing in the Mississippi Delta. “He was somebody you could count on,” Thompson continued.

Through the non-profit organization known as the Mississippi Industrial and Special Services (M.I.S.S.) and Southland Management Corporation, a property management agency which own and manages more than 6,000 multi-family housing properties, Gooden became a well-known and respected housing manager, consultant and developer in the Southeast.

He worked to improve housing and the quality of life for thousands of low and moderate income families. In 1969, he led Chapel Hill Baptist in Clarksdale in the development and ownership of a 100-unit housing development called Chapel Hill Heights.

To honor his having faithfully served as choir director and minister of music for forty years, Chapel Hill Baptist Church dedicated the Bennie S. Gooden Music Hall.

The Rev. Clyde Glenn, pastor of Chapel Hill Baptist Church and close friend of Gooden’s, expounded  on his friendship with Gooden and on the dedication and love that Gooden felt for his church and for people of all races. “Mr. Gooden was very instrumental in introducing me to Chapel Hill and played a large role in my becoming pastor of this church,” Glenn stated. “He was a man who deeply loved his church, our members, and he really loved all people. He was an icon in the community and many peoples’ lives have been enriched by and because of him. He always had something funny to say and was a very lively individual with profound insight and a great love for his family and God. We will all miss him deeply,” Glenn continued.

Robert Ellard, former Superintendent of Education of Clarksdale Municipal School District and current school board member, stated, “Bennie was a friend of the people of Clarksdale and the United States. He will be missed and we are all thinking of his family and friends at this time.”

The music ministry of Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church dedicated its Christmas Cantata of Gooden. The ministry, in bestowing the honor on Gooden, stated that they were “recognizing over fifty years of visionary, innovative, courageous, tenacious, and dedicated service to the religious and cultural edification of Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church, Coahoma County, and the state of Mississippi.

“Thus, is with great pride, honor, and satisfaction that we pause at this moment in time to borrow a slightly - altered phrase from that great statesman, Sir Winston Churchill, and say to Mr. Bennie Stone Gooden, “Never has ONE done so much for so MANY for so LONG.”