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Jaggers, a long-time building inspector who helped usher in a new era for housing and building standards 50 years ago, died Aug. 20, at Delta Regional Medical Center. He was 91.
Funeral Services were held Saturday at Smith Funeral Home in Greenville with interment at Pleasant Grove Cemetery near Pontotoc.
“The city has lost a wealth of knowledge,” said Greenville Mayor Heather Hudson. A proclamation was read at the funeral and the mayor declared Saturday as “Colbert L. Jaggers Day” in the city.
“He was a city employee for 50 years,” said Hudson. “He was a definite bright spot that will be missed.”
Jaggers began his job as housing inspector in August 1960 shortly after the city adopted housing codes. He was promoted to building inspector in 1974.
In those 14 years, the face of Greenville’s housing changed, and house after house was destroyed after being deemed too far gone to renovate.
Jaggers explained it best in a report he penned in 1974 to the Greenville City Council.
“Since the adoption of the Housing Code in 1960, there have been more than 5,414 dwelling units demolished or rehabilitated,” Jaggers wrote. “Of course, this is a never ending job. Houses that were satisfactory in 1960 are deteriorating and are being rehabilitated or demolished now.”
The next part of Jaggers’ report was at least as telling about the living conditions for some Greenville residents in the 1960s.
“Today all houses in Greenville have indoor plumbing, electrical service, and gas, all the repairs and installations were done to conform with the Code of Greenville.”
In his first decade and a half, Jaggers saw to the addition of thousands of water meters, bathrooms, kitchen sinks, water heaters, and sewer connections in low income neighborhoods where landlords had initially resisted change. He said most eventually saw the wisdom of improving their properties.
Jaggers and his work to improve housing and the appearance of the town drew attention from city planners from around the state.
Jaggers had a collection of letters showing numerous requests to him for help by city building officials in Mississippi. As his reputation for cleaning up Greenville grew, so did the demand for his presentations at building officials’ workshops and conventions.
He also visited numerous cities, at their request, to help guide other housing and building inspectors and officials. He served three terms as president of the Mississippi Building Officials Association.
A veteran of the United States Army, he was also a Mason and a Shriner.
“I was in the Army for four years; two and a half years overseas,” he said in an interview with the Delta Democrat Times three years ago. “When I got out I started working in Charleston, S.C., as a plumber and pipefitter, we were modifying destroyers into mine sweepers.”
A native of Pontotoc County, Jaggers returned to Mississippi and earned certification in air conditioning and refrigeration and in industrial electricity.
This was at the time when the Tennessee Valley Authority was beginning to introduce electricity to rural northeast Mississippi.
When he started selling Frigidaire appliances in Monroe County, he had to make sure houses were properly wired to power the products.
He was born April 16, 1919, in Pontotoc to Luke and Lula Belle Jaggers. He grew up in Pontotoc where he attended school. He had been a resident of Greenville since 1960.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Luke and Lula Belle Jaggers; his wife, Josephine Jaggers; his son, Tommy Jaggers; his siblings, Perlis Jaggers, Ellis Jaggers, Boudie Jaggers, Jesse Jaggers, Carol Jaggers, Elvis Jaggers, Louis Kisor, Lucille Query and Lydia Belle Jaggers.
He is survived by his brother, Richard L. Jaggers and his wife, Sammie, of Thaxton; sister, Pearlie Faye Russell of Horn Lake; two sisters-in-law, Clara Jaggers and Elizabeth Jaggers, both of Pontotoc; special friends, Josephine Ridgeway and Jacqueline Ridgeway, both of Greenville; and numerous nieces and nephews.
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