An Unidentified Man

BY JIMMIE McDOWELL
In mid-August the Jackson newsaper included in a possible homicide story of a woman that an unidentified man had also been found deceased in his Belhaven apartment. His name was not listed.
The Unidentified man was a longtime friend of mine, a member of the famed Belhaven Coffee Club, a World War Two Veteran in the European theater, a decorated Top Sergeant, who came to Mississippi after the war to play football and baseball for Hinds Junior College and later Mississippi College. His name was Leonard (Mac) McCummas, a Pennsylvanian from the coal mine country in John O'Hara's home town of Pottsville. I went to Pottsville for football dinners for a quarter of century while working for the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, spending many enjoyable times all of those years.
Mac McCummas coached briefly on the high school level before selling insurance for a while at the same time Eagle Day was selling all of his Ole Miss pals insurance. Mac later opened a TV repair service with the quote: "When your TV is nervous, call Mac's TV repair service."
For 10 years Mac rode with Gentleman Jack Giddens to Vicksburg and then over to Louisiana to buy lottery tickets, pursuing jackpots, which they never hit. They played the slots in the Hill City going to and from Louisiana. Too bad Mississippi did not have a Lottery, particularly with the price of gas today. It would keep a lot of business in the Magnolia State.
Jack Giddens, we have mentioned before was voted Belhaven's most handsome man when GI's were accepted after the war. He got this honor over two eventual lawyers John Countiss and Sebastian Moore. The Janitor came in fourth.
Mac McCummas and Lester Madison, also a Top Sergeant, who also served in the ETO, swapped war stories over many cups of Coffee at Jimmy Parkin's drug story. The club continued to gather there when Bane's bought the story. I always enjoyed the pleasure of their company and would toss in some Navy experiences of my own in Greece, North Africa, England, and the North Atlantic. I was not the best shot on our Armed Guard gun crew but ranked tops respresenting our country on Liberty. For instance, the first red-headed sailor in Greece.
Mac McCummas did not want to go home to Pennsylvania. One by one his relatives there passed away,including a brother who was a Catholic Priest. He told me his days at Hinds and Mississippi College were the happiest times of his life. He was one of Coach Stanley Robinson's men and he was proud of it. He went to Arkansas State briefly after Hinds, but switched to MC because of a Choctaw coed.
His funeral was held at St. Peter's Cathedral with Reverend Brian Kaske officiating. His friend Waddell Nejam and his Family stood up to be counted in making the arrangements. Billy Hal Robbins and Ben Farmer also helped in the process. Too bad Mac's pals at Fenian's were unaware of his passing.
We will all miss Mac McCummus--no longer the Unidentified man from Belhaven
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