Bobby Joe Pounds, 83, beloved husband, dad, and grandpa (papa) passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday morning June 9, 2015 with his family by his side.
Bobby Joe was born September 27, 1931 in Clifton, Texas, the eldest son of Richard Jefferson and Lilia Humphries Pounds. He attended Meridian schools and graduated from Clifton High School before he enlisted in the United States Navy in 1952 during the Korean War.
As a child growing up he always had a passion for trains and said one day he would drive one. In 1956 he went to work for the Santa Fe Railroad in Brownwood as a locomotive engineer fulfilling his childhood dream for 42 years. He retired from the railroad in 1998.
On July 30, 1974 he married his beloved wife Irma Hernandez. Bobby Pounds was the truest form of a real Texas cowboy. He spent most of his days at “the barn” tending to the land and his horses all the while listening to sound of those engines roar and switching trains just behind his property. If anyone had a way with horses, it was certainly him. He was a true horseman. He didn’t look at a horse with his eyes, he looked at a horse with his heart.
Whenever a crowd gathered for any occasion, Bobby would always have a story to tell from the good old days. His stories will be missed by all who knew him.
His life devotion was to his wife and his family. He was a gentle soul and a friend to everyone he met. Never met a stranger.
He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Irma Pounds, two daughters, Lisa Simpson and her husband Brad of Brownwood and Mandy Vana and her husband Vance of Elgin, Texas; one son Jody Pounds and his wife Angie of Elgin, Texas; grandchildren: Jake, Taylor, Shannon, Candice, Dean & Wyatt. And he loved them all.
And we will all miss him tremendously!
The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Thursday evening from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be on Friday, June 12, 2015 at 2 o’clock in the afternoon at Early First Baptist Church. Burial with military honors will follow at Eastlawn Memorial Park under the direction of Heartland Funeral Home.
A tribute to Bobby’s life can be found at heartlandfuneralhome.net where you may leave remembrances and expressions of sympathy for the family.