JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – After a year-long battle with ALS, well-known Jackson businessman and leader Leland Speed has died at the age of 88.
The Downtown Jackson Partners, a company Leland Speed founded, was formally headed by Ben Allen. Allen said he’s not just an ordinary friend of Speed, he’s his best friend. The two gained a strong connection 1997 when Allen was running for city council.
Allen described his friend as a brilliant, competitive, Christian man, that was always positive. He said Speed is someone that can never be replaced, adding that Jackson would be a better place if everyone was as positive as Speed was.
Even as a successful businessman, Speed wanted communities in Mississippi to thrive.
He served as an advocate for many civic engineering projects, a representative on the Hinds-Rankin Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control Board, served on the JSU Development board, and served as chair of the Board of Trustees for Mississippi College.