Mother Lillie McLaurin

"Miss Lillie taught early youth's lessons"

By: Amanda Eady

Lillie McLaurin, 94, who sold the Hattiesburg American for more than 50 years, died Tuesday at Forrest General Hospital.

"She was the oldest carrier for the American, as well as the oldest person associated with the paper in the community," said Stephen May, the newspaper's circulation director.

Mayor Johnny DuPree, who worked for her for five years when he was a youngster, remembers one thing she taught all her carriers. "Rain, shine, sleet or snow - Lillie's papers got to go," he said Tuesday.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete. Hall-Fairley's Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

McLaurin opened a news stand in 1945 on Mobile Street and hired young people to deliver the newspaper around town.

"She always expected us to be there and to perform our duties. If we took the job as a carrier, no matter what the weather conditions were, she expected us to carry our papers," DuPree said.

Kathryn Dahmer, McLaurin's niece, said, "Miss Lillie felt like she needed to do something to provide young kids with a job. She had carriers selling papers on all the corners of Hattiesburg.

"A lot of people have gone through Miss Lillie and learned how to become better young men. It was a teaching tool for them."

Aubrey Lucas, president emeritus of the University of Southern Mississippi, was one of McLaurin's friends and customers.

"She was a good business woman and also had to have had a very positive influence on the young people who worked for her," he said. "Many of her young men have done exceedingly well, and many attribute their success to her supervision."

DuPree said he appreciates Miss Lillie for giving him responsibilities for the first time. It impressed him that when he was 11, she had enough faith and trust to allow him to take care of her business while she ran errands around town.

"She was easy to get along with but was strictly business. She was preparing us for adulthood," said DuPree.

Download "A Few Good Times with Mother Lillie"