[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 78 (Tuesday, May 10, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E475]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING ELOISE CAMPBELL BARFIELD-FIGGS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 10, 2022

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
remarkable hero, Mrs. Eloise Campbell Barfield-Figgs.
  Eloise was born on December 10, 1944, in Marks, MS, to Louise ``Mama 
Lou'' Hankins and Charlie Campbell. She grew up in a home with seven 
siblings--two sisters and five brothers in Marks, MS.
  Eloise is a 1963 graduate of Quitman County High School; and she 
later attended Coahoma Community College where she majored in Early 
Childhood Education. She utilized her educational background and 
started her career in the early childhood field by serving as Center 
Director for Head Start in Lambert, MS. She also served as Parent 
Center Coordinator for the Quitman County School District. She 
established a name for herself by working in the public sector as a 
Justice Court Clerk, a Clerk in the Chancery Clerk's Office; Customer 
Service Representative at Shreveport Credit Union (now Red River), and 
Delta Burial Funeral Association. She is currently retired but felt the 
need to return to work to share her skills and talents by cooking and 
serving three ``Hot & Nutritious'' meals to the County Inmates.
  Eloise later married James R. Figgs (former Civil Rights Activist) 
and they had three children: Wynetta, Anja, and Dwight; four 
grandchildren and one great grandson.
  Eloise a strong pillar in her community and is the matriarch of her 
family. She continues to care for her children, her grandchildren, her 
great grandson and two of her disabled brothers. She is devoted to 
ensuring that her brothers are well taken care of and provides them 
with meals daily.
  Over the course of her life, she has contributed to her community 
tremendously. She assists with distributing food boxes to needy 
families, disabled adults and the elderly throughout the community. As 
a pillar of her community, she has continued to help others through her 
many organizational affiliations, (Current & Past) such as the Heroine 
of Jericho; The National Council of Negro Women, Inc.; the NAACP 
(Local, State & National), where she has received numerous awards in 
her work related to Civil Rights; and the Les Grandes Souers, where her 
organization provides charitable services that are beneficial to the 
community and particularly for the children. Her organization in the 
past was very instrumental in hosting pageants for the girls and boys 
of Quitman County, teaching them etiquette, helping to build self-
confidence, increase community involvement, and build lasting 
friendships.
  Eloise has been instrumental in helping to organize the Annual 
Christmas Parades for the City of Marks, providing Annual Scholarships 
for High School Seniors and she renders herself to any other charitable 
event in which the Organization is asked to assist.
  Eloise is a faithful, longtime member of Silent Grove Missionary 
Baptist Church where she serves as Assistant Secretary/Treasurer. Her 
favorite scripture is Psalms 23, because she says, ``the Lord is her 
Shepherd and I shall not want.'' She is very active and supportive in 
her community, church and the school district in which she has resided 
all of her life. Eloise is never hesitant to help anyone in any way 
that she possibly can.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mrs. 
Eloise Campbell Barfield-Figgs for she is the epitome of an unsung 
hero.

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