Sandra Hudnall Bounds

Mrs. Sandra Hudnall Bounds, 77, of Macon, MS passed away on October 8, 2020 at Macon Elderly Care Center in Macon, MS. A private graveside service was held at Shuqualak Cemetery in Shuqualak, MS on October 11, 2020 with Rev. Steve Galloway officiating. Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 510,  Macon, Mississippi. Cockrell Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with arrangements.

Sandra Hudnall Bounds was born on December 10, 1942, the tenth of ten children born to the late Homer Graves Hudnall and Lucille Adams Hudnall in Columbus, Mississippi. She was the valedictorian of the graduating class of Shuqualak High School in 1960 and was chosen as Miss Shuqualak High. She continued her education at East Mississippi Junior College, where she was chosen as “Most Intellectual.” On February 2, 1964, she married Dr. Samuel Barrie Bounds, settled in Macon, and completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Mississippi State University. She later continued her education, earning a Master’s Degree in English from Mississippi State University in 1990.

Along with being an extraordinary wife, mother, and homemaker, Sandra taught English literature and composition in both the private and public schools of Noxubee County, and she was an English instructor for East Mississippi Community College. She was a published poet, a member of the MIssissippi Poetry Society, and the recipient of many prizes presented by MPS, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. Her work appeared in journals published around the world, and three of her poems received a nomination for a Pushcart Prize in Poetr`y. A collection of her poems, entitled “From the Heart of the Deep South,” was published by MPS in 2015.

In her later years, Sandra was blessed to participate in the Parkinsons Aquatic Exercise Class and Support Group sponsored by the Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA Association at the ​Downtown YMCA in Columbus, Mississippi. The friendships, fun, and spiritual support she found in this group sustained her as she sought to live gracefully with Parkinson’s disease.

Sandra attended First Baptist Church in Macon, Mississippi where she taught Sunday School for many years. She is preceded in death by her parents; brothers Charles and Homer Hudnall of Mississippi; Bobby Hudnall of Memphis, Tennessee and John Hudnall of Keedysville,  Maryland; and sisters Mildred Carlin of Minnesota, Margaret Nichols of Tupelo, Mississippi, and Susie Culver of Des Moines, Iowa. Sandra’s survivors include her husband of 56 years, Dr. S. Barrie Bounds; two sisters: Josephine Franklin of Olive Branch, MS and Amanda Gates of Memphis, TN; two daughters: Robin Horan (Rob) of Fayetteville, AR and Beth Eubank (Tom) of Greenville, MS; a son, Eric Bounds (Phyllis) of Steens, MS; and 7 grandchildren and one great granddaughter. Miss Sandra will be remembered by her family and students for her firm but loving hand, her quiet, graceful presence, and her love for her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.