Earnestine Powell Southard

by Lynn McMillen
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Earnestine Powell Southard, 79, of Cherokee, Alabama, died Sunday, October 11, 2020 at the North Alabama Medical Center after a sudden and brief illness.  She was born to the late Ben Ellis Powell, Sr. and Nina Mae Powell in Tishomingo County, Mississippi.

To know Earnestine was to know unconditional love and compassion through her random acts of kindness to family, friends, and strangers alike.

She extended a heart of love to all in the local communities of Allsboro and Maud (AL); Carter’s Branch and Peterstown (Tishomingo, Mississippi).  But her kindness and love also reached as far as Portland (OR), Troy (NY), Sunnyvale (CA), White Sands (NM), Nashua (NH), Atlanta (GA), Huntsville (AL), amongst many other places.

She touched everyone with the biggest smile and the warmest hugs, and if that did not work, she would win you over with a plate of Southern delicacies that she would bake with a mother’s love.

Faithful and committed through 61 years of marriage, Earnestine leaves behind her beloved husband, William Huston Southard; her four sons and one daughter – Cleveland (Charlotte) Southward of Tishomingo, MS; David Southard of Tucker, GA; Michelle (Reginald) Alexander of Huntsville, AL; Timothy (Selena) Southward of Madison, AL; and Derrick Southward of Tishomingo, MS; her nine grandchildren – Jarvis (Kelsie) Southward, Byron Southward; Blake and Blair Southard; Ricky Alexander, Michaela Alexander, and Anderson Jacob Alexander; Breanne Thomas and Hannah Faith Southward; and one great-grandchild Kimberly Ricks Southward.  Of special note to Earnestine are her two neighborhood sons in Tony Thorn of Allsboro, AL and Terry Thorn of Portland, OR; and embraced loved ones in Cecely Sanderson and Andrew Wallace of Fairfield, AL.

Survivors also include her four brothers – George (Luvenia) Powell, Ezekiel “Tuffy” (Edna) Powell, John Dexter “Micky” (Gernice) Powell, and Bob (Mildred) Powell, all of Tishomingo, MS; four sisters – Christine Southward, Virginia Bennett, and Margaret (Willie) Robinson of Tishomingo, MS and Marveline Shelby of Jackson, MI; two widowed sisters-in-laws, Ila Powell and Myrtis Powell of Tishomingo, MS.

Earnestine was preceded in death by her parents – Ben Powell, Sr. and Nina Powell; one sister – Mary Robinson; and four brothers – Ben Powell, Jr., Willis Gene “Brother” Powell, and Tommie Powell.

She confessed her faith in Jesus Christ at an early age; and was a member of the Carter’s Branch Missionary Baptist Church in Tishomingo, MS under the leadership of Reverend S.W. Shinault; the late Dennis Rainer; and the current pastor Anthony Welch.

Earnestine’s life will be celebrated through a graveside service at the Carter’s Branch Cemetery, Tishomingo, MS on Friday, October 16, 2020 at 11:00 AM.  Public visitation will be held at the Thompson and Son Funeral Home in Tuscumbia, AL from 9AM thru 8PM on Thursday.

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