“Seek God’s plan for your life each day, discover your passion, stay in your lane, and put others first,” advised Cissi Majure.
Anyone who has met Cissi Majure knows how much she loves others. Her optimistic, vibrant spirit is apparent to anyone who is around her.
Growing up, she was involved in a multitude of activities and was able to discover different things she was passionate about doing, especially anything dealing with music.
“I grew up in east Mississippi as a ‘preacher’s kid’ moving to Stonewall when I was in seventh grade. My three brothers and I attended the Quitman schools where my mom was a seventh grade English teacher. In those days people from all over the state came to model their schools after the successful programs in our district,” Cissi reminisced. “I enjoyed being a cheerleader, learning many life lessons from our fearless sponsor, Scotty Peden, who was and still is a wonderful role model. It was easy to cheer for our winning football teams led by Coach Benson Holland and his fine staff. I sang in the junior high choir led by Joan Pepper then continued in high school choir under the direction of Royce Ann Saul. Some of my favorite memories are singing in festivals with students from all across the state. Another plus from my years in choir was singing with a handsome and very fine Christian young man with the most beautiful voice who later became more than a singing buddy!”
Singing wasn’t the only musical talent Cissi had. She was also able to play an instrument and was able to use her talent in church at a young age.
“I served as church pianist for several years while in high school,” recalled Cissi. “Rosa Longwitz and Juanita Buchanan were two of my piano teachers during this time.”
Once she graduated from high school, Cissi continued to study her musical passion in college.
“After graduating with high honors from QHS in 1974, I attended Mississippi University for Women in Columbus where my mom graduated in 1951. I sang with the tour choir led by the chairman of the music department, Dr. Siegfred Matson, who was also my piano teacher. Our choir toured Europe that summer. One of my personal highlights was getting to walk around in the gazebo from my favorite movie, The Sound of Music,” remembered Cissi. “After my freshman year I transferred to the University of Southern Mississippi where I graduated with a degree in music education with an emphasis in piano.”
Eventually, she married the love of her life, Stan Majure, and started a career in music.
“Stan Majure, my high school singing buddy, and I were married in 1976 while still in college,” described Cissi. “After college, Stan started his career in the lumber business working at Hood Industries here in Quitman. In 1978-79, I started my teaching career in the Quitman School District, splitting a contract with Joan Pepper. Then, for ten years I operated a music studio teaching mainly piano lessons with a few voice and guitar students. I was a charter member of Meridian’s Mississippi Music Teachers Association and took students to perform in joint recitals with other area students. I also had students to participate in state piano festivals where I also served as an adjudicator.”
She and Stan were able to start a beautiful family together, and eventually, Cissi decided to return to teaching music.
“During this time, Stan and I were blessed with two children, Nathan and Lauren. When our children were school age I decided to begin teaching in the school system again. I was certified to teach music education K-12, applied music K-12, regular education K-8, and gifted education K-12,” explained Cissi. “I was set to teach a third grade class in Quitman when a state rule was made stating that a person could not teach in the district where a spouse was on the school board. Since Stan was on the school board, I could not teach in Quitman. Wayne County and Quitman did a swap, allowing Mrs. Bonnie Davis and me to teach in Waynesboro. I taught elementary music and high school choir there; then after three years, I transferred to Clarkdale where I taught elementary music and junior and senior high choirs. While there, I had many students participate in various honor choirs as well as singing in several fun venues including Disney World. While in Lauderdale County, I was chosen as their teacher of the year and then was privileged to be a part of the Mississippi Teacher Center. I was on a team of music teachers who wrote the music framework that all music teachers used as a guide for teaching. I worked for the Mississippi Department of Education in teacher training for the new music framework.”
While she loved her job in Lauderdale County, she eventually decided to take a job at Quitman again. She never made rash decisions when she chose to leave a job and always relied on God’s leadership to show her where he was calling her to go.
“When Rosa Longwitz retired after a long and successful career as Quitman’s choir director, I followed in her footsteps for two years. While there, I had students to sing in various honor choirs and took a group to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. A highlight of that time was being chosen as Star Teacher by Lauren, who was QHS’s Star Student,” proclaimed Cissi. “I always felt called by God to each of these jobs and felt very blessed to get paid for doing what I loved. During this time, Stan and I volunteered in our church, FBC Quitman in many capacities.”
When she was making plans to return to something else in her career, she had to change her direction to something completely new because she felt God calling her on a different path. Instead of working in a music studio or school, she felt God’s call to work in the church.
“When Lauren graduated from Quitman High, I decided to open my music studio again, but God had other plans. I was called to Calvary Baptist Church in Waynesboro as music minister where Stan and I ministered for six and a half years,” expressed Cissi. “Then in 2008, I was called as minister of music to our home church, FBC Quitman. It was no coincidence that my mom needed to come and live with us. I was close to home and had the privilege to help care for her during her last three years here on earth. I was blessed to serve as minister of music at FBC Quitman for almost 14 years, recently retiring in December just after Stan’s official retirement. While at FBC, I worked with all ages from children through senior adults. It’s hard to choose a favorite group because they are all very special folks.”
She has loved working with the people in the churches and has developed a strong relationship with her church families. One of the things she enjoyed while at First Baptist was how devoted the church is to missions and spreading the Word of God to other areas.
“The church has a very sweet spirit and is extremely mission minded,” described Cissi. “I was able to go on several foreign mission trips to Mexico, Honduras, and Scotland, mainly ministering through music to the people there. I was blessed to minister to others through mission trips to Texas, Tennessee, Arizona, and Louisiana. I joined our ladies groups ministering to many different local groups. We are sure that the Lord will lead us to others areas of service in our retirement years.”
She is able to look back on different great memories of the mission trips she has attended over the years and see just how blessed everyone around here really is.
“Many times we take for granted our access to health care and medicines,” declared Cissi. “On one trip to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, we took donated reading glasses for anyone who needed them as we gave out food and other supplies. I’ll never forget the look on one grandmother’s face as she looked at the Bible. She had tears in her eyes as she read the words. She could actually see the print for the first time in a long time.”
Cissi is also extremely proud of her children and everything they have accomplished. Now that she is retired, she is looking forward to being able to travel and visit with them even more.
“We recently bought an RV and plan to visit our children as well as some places we’ve never been,” explained Cissi. “Nathan lives in Denver, Colorado. After he played baseball for Jones County Junior College, he graduated from Mississippi State University. He taught English as a second language in Istanbul, Turkey and later moved to Denver, CO, where he is a pharmaceutical representative. He married a Colorado girl who is a Physician Assistant. They have a son, Wesley. Lauren lives in Jacksonville, Florida. After graduating from Mississippi State University she moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where she got her MBA at Middle Tennessee State University. Later, she got her juris doctorate at Florida Coastal and presently practices law mainly in the entertainment industry. She also teaches Digital Technology in a high school in Duvall County. She married a young man from Jacksonville who owns a music recording studio. We would be happy to have our children closer but are very fortunate to have great places to visit.”
While she did a lot of volunteering in church, Cissi has also been very active volunteering in the community over the years. She has a heart for young people and has used her talents to help them find and use their own talents as well.
“I have worked with Clarke County’s Distinguished Young Women program, formerly known as Junior Miss, in many different capacities since I was a participant in 1974. Among other duties, I have served as committee chairman and judge’s chairman, mentoring others to take over these key positions,” stated Cissi. “I have served as a mentor to QUE and QJH students who needed extra help as well as volunteering with Ben Carson reading groups. I believe that God enabled me to help others discover and develop their special gifts and talents. It is a joy to teach them to use these for God’s glory.”
No matter where she goes or what she is doing, Cissi does her best to spread joy and love to everyone she meets. She truly cares about those around her and wants to do what she can to help teach them and help them succeed.
If you would like to nominate someone for Person of the Week, contact Brittney Mangum at 601-776-3726
