Age and failing health will soon force the retirement of the gentle, and gentleman, giant in Mississippi politics.

Thad Cochran’s office announced Monday the longtime senator will retire next month after representing millions of Mississippians in Washington, D.C., for four decades.

He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978, the first Republican to win a statewide seat since Reconstruction.

Cochran’s longevity in the U.S. Senate — he will retire as the 10th longest tenured in history — placed him in a unique position of power, head of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Although a few critics through the years may question how Cochran brought home the bacon for the state, his work there proved invaluable to many segments of Mississippi.

He was there for Mississippi when it needed it, in great and small capacities.

Cochran helped garner bipartisan support to help bring much-needed aid to the state after Hurricane Katrina literally crushed the Gulf Coast in 2005. Without his help, the rebuilding and recovery process would have been far more difficult and arduous.

He was as several local leaders and friends said, “our go-to guy,” when Natchez and Southwest Mississippi needed something. He had a way of making you feel you were important to him, because you were.

Cochran was a man from another generation, a time that perhaps some of us miss. You never saw him yelling and screaming on television or seeking glory or fame for himself.

He was stately in how he carried himself. He was quiet in his approach.

And, most important, Cochran was tough when it counted and when Mississippi needed him.

We wish you the best, Sen. Cochran; you’ve served us all well.