When people are asked about the Rev. Henry Mayfield, they describe a man of high moral character who loved his children and practiced the message he gave from the pulpit.

Mayfield, the father of North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield, died Wednesday afternoon at River Region Hospital. He was 84.

“Our prayers go out to Mike and his family,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said. “I ask all Vicksburgers to remember Mike and his family.”

Flaggs said Rev. Mayfield was a model father, a pillar of the community and a pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement.

“He preached the gospel so people could understand,” he said. “He knew the difference between wrong and right and made sure his children knew it. He told me once that there was more honor in work than stealing. He was a hard-working man. When he saw a wrong he tried to right it, and he passed that on to his children.

“The best way the city can honor his legacy is by emulating him. Vicksburg is a much better place because he crossed its path.”

Rev. Mayfield and his wife Dorothy were married 65 years. He pastored churches for 45 years and preached for almost 50. At the time of his death, he was the pastor of Mount Zion No. 4 Church in Vicksburg and Mount Zion Church in Eagle Lake.

Alonzo Stevens former Vicksburg High football coach and current school board member called Rev. Mayfield “a great man.  He was unselfish and he was proud of his kids — all 13 of them — and his wife. I know his family loved him. When he spoke, he spoke the truth, not just in church, but everywhere. He would look you in the eye when he spoke to you.  He not only talked it, but he walked the walk. Vicksburg has lost a treasure.”

“ When I received the Henry Mayfield Award from Greater Grove Street M.B. Church, it was greatest experience of my life,” he said.

“We loved Rev. Mayfield,” Stevens’ wife, Linda, said. “Our youngest daughter loved to go hear him preach. He put his message in a way she could understand it. He was just an open, warm person.”

“The past few years, his family tried to get him to stop preaching,” Alonzo said. “He told them, ‘I’ll stop preaching when God calls me.’”

“He was an icon and a pioneer in our community,” former school board member Zelmarine Murphy said. “He had strong morals and values and you could identify that in the way he carried himself and the way his children behaved. All of them went to school and got an education.

“It was something to see all his children, grandchildren, great-grands, nieces and nephews gather at his house every Sunday,” she said. “The rumor in the community was that Alderman Mayfield would hold up traffic so the Mayfield tribe could gather on Catherine Street. He never got involved in politics, but when he saw something wrong, he went to correct it, and he worked for voter registration and education.”

Besides his wife and son, Rev. Mayfield is survived by 12 children and their families.  Lakeview Memorial Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.