By Brittney Mangum
Reporter
“You have to put God first, then your spouse and children, and then your career,” advised Cindy Belcher.
Cindy Belcher is well-known and loved in Clarke County, and she has always done her best to show all those around her how much she loves and cares about them.
Although she truly loves Clarke County, she grew up elsewhere. She had a great childhood and wonderful family and made many amazing memories growing up.
“My father’s parents were very poor, but they never knew they were poor because they didn’t need much. They had a little farm in House, MS. I was never the inside person and didn’t want to be inside helping my mother do dishes and things like that. I would help my daddy rake or mow the yard and would go fishing with him,” remembered Cindy. “Every Saturday, he would drive to House, MS, and take his mother and daddy to the store to buy their groceries for the week and visit them. I rode with him, and it was real fun. We’d feed the chickens and cows, and then we’d go to the general store where he’d buy all the stuff. That was the highlight of my week was going to my grandparents’ house.”
Her parents invested in a horse, and she loved showing horses in her free time when she was younger.
“Later on, my parents bought me a horse. I showed horses. We boarded it at the stables in Meridian, and those were some great years,” recalled Cindy. “It was great just camping out with the horses, riding the horses, and going to horse shows. I always dreamed I’d grow up and live on this big horse farm.”
Family has always been important to her, and some of her best memories are simply spending time with everyone in her family when things were more relaxing.
“In my family, Sundays were real easy-going. There was nothing open. We’d get up and go to church as a family and come home and eat lunch as a family,” Cindy reminisced. “My daddy would get out in the backyard sometimes and hand-churn some ice cream. We would all just sit in lawn chairs, and we cousins would just play for hours. We rode our bikes for hours. It was just some good times.”
Education was important to Cindy, and she acquired two degrees. Both degrees have been used since she attained them.
“I’m originally from Meridian and graduated from Meridian High. I went to Mississippi State. I got a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture and a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance,” explained Cindy. “Then, I got my Master’s Degree. That’s kind of what got me the job with State Farm because you had to have certain things in place to get a job with State Farm. That’s how I got the job with the extension service too since I have the agriculture degree.”
It was after she married Jay that she first moved to Clarke County. While life in the country was much different than what she was accustomed to, she grew to love the different lifestyle.
“When Jay and I married, we moved here in 1984. We had a little house out in Harmony. Jay had bought it years before we got married,” described Cindy. “It was kind of a culture shock because I asked him how many days a week does the garbage run and where our cable was. I was coming from an apartment in Meridian, and my parents lived in the city in Gulfport. At the time, you couldn’t get cable t.v. where we were, and there was no garbage pickup except for one day a week. It was just a lot of things to get used to, but then I ended up loving it after a while.”
She did a couple of different jobs when they first moved to Clarke County.
“I took a job at Bank of Quitman for three years,” expressed Cindy. “Then, I left there and took a job with 4-H as the extension agent and did that for about three years. I worked with Bobby Fulcher, and we did livestock shows. I sheered sheep and did things I never thought I’d be doing, but I loved it.”
Eventually, she was offered an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up. She decided to take on a new career in insurance, and she has remained in that position ever since.
“I came to work here in 1990. There was a man named Gary Eldridge who approached me back in 1989. Mr. Donald was retiring, and they wanted to have two agents in Clarke County. Back then, it was a big thing to have several agents in the same county. They were looking at me and Robert to fill those two positions, which would be separate agencies,” informed Cindy. “At first I laughed about leaving my job with 4-H to sell insurance, but the more I started talking to him and my parents about it, it seemed like a good idea. I chose to pursue it, and that’s how that door opened. It was kind of scary leaving a state job when I didn’t really know anything about insurance, but it’s been 32 years and I’m still here.”
With all the hard work she does each day, there isn’t much free time for her. When she is able to get away, though, there is something that she and her husband enjoy being able to do together.
“We like to farm. Jay and I have Belcher Farm where we have our pond and ducks and other animals. We bush hog and mow, and we plant trees and flowers. That’s where we spend most of our time if we aren’t at work or at home,” explained Cindy. “We got into planting trees a couple years back. We’ve put up fruit trees and decorative trees just trying to beautify the place. We clean the pond up, restock it, redid the dam, and just try to make it a nice place. That takes a lot of work since it’s just me and Jay.”
She loves her husband and sees him as being a huge part of her success. He has been there to support and help her over the years with her job and their family, and she truly believes that he is the reason she has been able to do everything she has done.
“I’ve been blessed. Jay has been wonderful through the years with supporting me and helping me with anything I need. I don’t think I could’ve done it without him all these years,” proclaimed Cindy. “He played a big role in our kids’ lives, and I don’t think a lot of daddies do that. He played a big role in getting the kids to ball games. At night with four kids, I’d be making supper or running baths, and he’d be spelling words with one of them. If I was washing clothes and folding them, he would bring them upstairs and put them in bedrooms. I couldn’t have done what I’ve done all these years without him.”
With each day that passes, Cindy will continue to be the compassionate and joyful person to those she encounters each day. She will continue to help others as much as she can and provide them with the best services and support that she can.
If you would like to nominate someone for Person of the Week, contact Brittney Mangum at 601-776-3726.
