By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – Mississippi Catholic says goodbye this month to one of its most loyal and longest-standing employees, Elsa Baughman, editor of Mississippi Catolico.
Baughman celebrated her 20th anniversary with the Chancery earlier this year. She was hired part-time in 1996 as the office manager for the paper, but that soon changed. In the fall of 1997, Baughman helped put together the first edition of the paper in Spanish.
Then, it was called Mensajero, which loosely translates to ‘the message.’ The effort was supported through a grant from the Catholic Foundation and only published once-a-quarter.
Baughman, a native of Venezuela, was perfect for the role as shepherd of the new venture. She holds a master of communication and taught Spanish, making her bilingual in both speech and print. She is a co-founder of the Mississippi Hispanic Association.
Baughman helped bring the first Spanish Masses to the Diocese of Jackson and continues to be an advocate for the Hispanic community here.
She moved to the Magnolia state to study at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg where she met her husband, Brian. The two raised two daughters and are now enjoying a pair of grandchildren.
Mississippi Catholic will continue to publish a Spanish language insert once a month, but will now depend on freelance and parishioner submissions for content. Baughman will continue to be a freelance member of this team.
On a personal note, I will miss her boundless energy and creativity. She was a great help to me when I first arrived in this office and was not quite sure what I had gotten myself into. I hope you will join me in wishing her a long and adventurous retirement.
(Maureen Smith is the Communications Director for the Catholic Diocese of Jackson.)