Martha Kathleen Pounders

Martha Kathleen Pounders, 75, of Tishomingo, Mississippi, died Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at her residence. She was a lifelong Methodist and a member of Paradise Church. The members of Paradise Church were very special to her. Kathleen also enjoyed visiting Mt Glory Baptist Church and worshipping there. She was a member of the Tishomingo High School Class of 1968 and attended Northeast Junior College. After attending Northeast, Kathleen worked at Kaydee Metals in Belmont, Mississippi as an accounts receivable clerk until the year 1980 when she became a mother and housewife. She devoted her life to the care of her family, and her family was her greatest joy.

Kathleen grew up on a farm and loved all animals. She often talked about playing with piglets as a child. She loved her cows and caring for them, especially when she had a group of calves to feed. Her cat, Tippah Ann, was her constant companion in her later years and they had an extraordinary bond. Kathleen loved gospel and country music. She especially enjoyed attending the Paradise 4th Friday Night Singing each month. She would always say after each singing that it was the best one ever. George Strait was her absolute favorite country music artist, and she attended many of his concerts during her lifetime. Kathleen loved visiting the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina in the fall with her family. She made many wonderful memories there.

Kathleen enjoyed gardening and preserving the many vegetables and fruits from her efforts. She would say she couldn’t cook, but she was being modest. Anyone who had ever eaten at her table would disagree. Her specialty was fried Tennessee River catfish and muscadine cobblers.

Her sister Shirley was her oldest friend. Everywhere they would go together someone would comment ‘here comes trouble”. Kathleen was the youngest and she always said she learned how to be good because she saw how much Shirley got into trouble. They loved watching football together and always cheered for their Mississippi State Bulldogs and Kansas City Chiefs. Kathleen loved her only niece Elizabeth like a daughter. Elizabeth’s husband Michael, she loved as if he were her son. She had a very special relationship with her great niece Taylor who she cared for as a baby.

Kathleen married Tommy Pounders on March 5, 1971. He was the love of her life. She often joked about how he asked her to go out with him 3 times and she kept turning him down before she said yes just to get him to stop asking her out. They were inseparable and made a great team. They built their life together and her heart was broken when he went to be with the Lord in 2016. She never stopped loving and missing him. They had one daughter together, Melissa. Melissa was her best friend and partner in crime. Kathleen was known as “Pickles” by Melissa. She passed on her love of animals, family and God to her daughter. They had a special bond as a mother and daughter. Each of them would have done absolutely anything for the other.

Kathleen is survived by her only daughter, Melissa Gail Pounders of Tishomingo, MS; one sister, Shirley Loader of Tishomingo, MS; one niece Elizabeth Floyd and husband Michael Floyd of Tishomingo, MS; one great niece, Taylor Floyd of Tishomingo, MS, very special family friends, Tommy, Stacy and Cassie Floyd of Tishomingo, MS, and many cousins who she was especially close to.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Tommy Pounders; her parents Otha and Mattie Faye Edmondson, an infant brother Virgil Lionel Edmondson, and her father-in-law and mother-in-law Talmadge and Avoe Pounders.

Cutshall Funeral Home in Iuka, MS is entrusted with the arrangements. Visitation is scheduled for Monday, March 30, 2026, from 5pm until 9pm, at Cutshall Funeral Home in Iuka. Visitation will continue on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, from 11am until the time of service. Services will be held at 2pm, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at Cutshall Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in Tishomingo Cemetery. 

Memorial contributions may be made in her memory to:

Yellow Rabbit Animal Rescue

5971 Pleasant Hill Road

Ashland, MS 38603

Venmo: @Shelia-Clifton-2

PayPal: yellowrabbit1959@gmail.com