Bernard Wiggins considers himself a people person.
“I love people,” he said.
On June 30, Wiggins retired from the Leflore County Sheriff’s Department after 27 years.
After waiting 90 days, as required by state law, he is back at his seat at the Leflore County Courthouse, working one of the security booths at the entrance.
“This is one reason why I like this job,” he said. “It’s because I just like people.”
He said he enjoyed the three months off but likes working more.
Wiggins, 79, was born in Grenada County but has spent about half of his life in Leflore County and half in Carroll County. He and his wife, Gladys, have a home in Carrollton that they built in 1988.
His primary career was in the grocery business. He began working at Big Star when he was a teenager and worked all the way to management.
Toward the end of his tenure, he signed on to be a part-time deputy at the sheriff’s office. After retiring from his first career, he started his second.
He also spent more than a decade as a pastor at Abundant Life Pentecostal Church.
“I probably enjoyed the ministry probably better than anything that I’ve done,” he said.
Working as a deputy sheriff has been his primary career recently. He said he has held responsibilities at the courthouse for the last 17 years. Typically he is seated at the courthouse’s northern entrance, though on Monday he was filling in at the south entrance.
“When the COVID hit, we were real careful about who we’d let come in and take their temperature,” he said. “There’s only been a couple of occasions that we’ve had a few problems.”
He said very few incidents have escalated at the courthouse in his experience.
“I never had any real trouble with anybody. Maybe one or two times, somebody got unruly in that tag office because they didn’t feel like they owed that much for their tag,” he said. “It’s been good. No real problems at all. You’re going to have one every now and then that gets unruly with you. Most of the time you reason with them, and everything is good.”
He and his wife have been married for 62 years and have two children. Their son, Vernon, works at Viking Range, and their daughter, Merita, works at Greenwood Leflore Hospital.
Wiggins said he has a good outlook on life nowadays.
“Life is good,” he said. “God’s good to us. If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t be here today. Had bypass surgery done March 3. It turned out good. God blessed me through it.
“For most cases, a few ups and downs, but life has been good.”
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwa-rds@gwcommonwealth.com.
