Featured photo: Councilman Eric Mays
Written by Tanya Terry, with photos by Tanya Terry
After locally known and nationally noticed Flint City Councilman Eric Mays being dead for about a month, his funeral took place on March 23. Hundreds of attendees made their way to the long-awaited funeral, held at House of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church. Words spoken of the late councilman were words of beauty and truth. The musical selections performed were mostly uplifting songs. Despite sorrow for the city’s and world’s loss, they prompted a joyous reflection of Mays’ life. It was clear Mays touched the lives of countless individuals- from family to friends to city officials and others Mays seemed to care about very deeply: community members.
Following a processional, scripture readings and prayer, music was presented- first by the local group Jeremiah Towner & The Highest Praise Choir. Bishop Neal Roberson of Jackson, Mississippi and Phylicia Dshea Hooper of Dallas, Texas also honored Mays through their talents. National recording artists Derrick and Lena Starks offered a selection later in the service.
Carol McIntosh read Mays’ obituary, followed by reflections by current Flint city council members, ranging from thought-provoking, to sympathetic to light and funny.
“If you knew Eric Mays he was more than a councilman,” said Councilman Dennis Pfeiffer. “To me, he was a friend. So, it’s not Councilman Mays today. It’s Friend-Councilman Mays.”
Pfeiffer said he met Mays over a decade ago. While laughing with tears in his eyes, Pfeiffer recalled how funny Mays was.
“He used to call me ‘Shank.’”
Pfeiffer said although he and Mays did not always agree on things, they had talked for hours. Pfeiffer expressed he believed that Mays heart was always in the right place.
Councilwoman Jerri Winfrey-Carter talked about the respect she had for Mays as the senior councilperson he was. She shared that she knew him far before getting elected to council and Mays taken her “under his wing” when she joined the council.
“He taught me everything I need to know,” said Winfrey-Carter.
She also said she and Mays had very long conversations on the phone after council meetings.
Winfrey-Carter said she was a quiet lady, but that one disagreement she and Mays had turned into a shouting match. This happened after Winfrey-Carter asked Mays behind closed doors “is it about you, or is it about the people?’
“We all need to say what we need to say,” Winfrey-Carter stated. “We all need to be like Councilman Mays.”
“He let everyone know he was a Black man from the north side of Flint,” said Councilwoman Tonya Burns.
Burns pointed out Mays brought attention to concerns of citizens, especially of urban areas with a Black population.
“Councilman Mays fought for labor unions, the Flint Water Crisis, the House of Esther, and more,” added Burns. “His last fight before his untimely death was the ARPA funds. He wanted every resident that had a rooftop to have it replaced with a new roof. “
Burns stated Mays, who had been a council member from 2013-2024, was fighting for new furnaces for city residents.
“He wanted home repair for our most vulnerable population: our Flint seniors, for what he considered to be ‘the least of these.’”
Former Mayor Dr. Karen Weaver read resolutions honoring Mays and his life from the City of Flint; the Flint Northern Vikings (of which he was part of the class of 1976); Hasselbring Senior Center; the City of Compton, California; the Flint School Board; numerous resolutions and acknowledgments from churches and other local and national entities who expressed both heartbreak and admiration.
Weaver said there were too many resolutions and acknowledgments to read all of them. She said some of these included those from the Concerned Pastors for Social Action, AM 1420 WFLT radio station, Jesus is the Answer Evangelistic Ministries in Los Angeles, The California Legislature and many more.
The Honorable Judge Herman Marable presented Mays with the Herman Sr. and Iris B. Marable Senior Citizen of the Month Award in person. Marable and Mays met when both men were heavily involved in the NAACP. They had both been involved in both politics and activism.
Marable reminisced out loud about how Mays liked to talk about politics and law.
“He was ahead of his time,” said Marable.
The Lento Law Group presented a proclamation which referred to Mays as a “modern day civil rights crusader.”
A longtime friend of Mays, RL Mitchell offered his heartfelt reflections. Mitchell has talked openly in Flint City Council meetings about being homeless at a point in his life. He continued to talk highly of Mays publicly because of his compassion and advocacy for all Flint citizens.
“Every time he said point of order,’ he was thinking about some ol’ lady sitting in her house who can’t talk for herself,” said Bishop Neal Roberson when he read the eulogy.
Family members left a wreath at Flint City Hall after the funeral. Mays was buried at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Flint Township.
As a writer, I attended the funeral of Eric Mays out of both reporting purposes and a personal sense of respect for the late councilman. I could hear a beautiful rendition of a song sang at the funeral sending Mays to glory in which Mays’ catchphrase ‘point of order’ was added.
