Seventeen staff members. Two licensed funeral directors with dual MS–Alabama credentials. A Certified Funeral Service Practitioner. Licensed crematory operators. Pre-need specialists. Pastors and community servants. All Columbus, all Lowndes County — all here for you.
Tim Pounders was born and raised in Columbus, Mississippi. After completing his AAS in Mortuary Science at East Mississippi Community College, he obtained licensure as a Funeral Director and Embalmer in both Mississippi and Alabama — a dual credential that reflects his commitment to serving families across the state line as well as at home.
On August 1, 1997, Tim opened Lowndes Funeral Home & Crematory alongside his wife Dawn and his parents. He believed then — as he believes now — that Lowndes County deserved a funeral home that was genuinely local, genuinely family-owned, and genuinely committed to the community it served.
Tim is a member of Columbus Masonic Lodge No. 5 and holds the 32nd Degree of the Scottish Rite. He and Dawn have three sons, seven grandchildren, and deep roots in the Columbus community that stretch well beyond funeral service.
The second generation. Caleb Pounders grew up watching his parents build Lowndes Funeral Home from the ground up — and chose to carry it forward. He earned his Crematory Operator license in 2008, then completed the Funeral Service Technology program at East Mississippi Community College in 2013 — the same institution his father attended — graduating with full licensure as a Funeral Director and Embalmer.
He joined the home full-time in 2013 and now serves as President, leading daily operations while maintaining the personal, hands-on approach to family care that the Pounders name has always stood for. Caleb is also a licensed insurance agent, enabling him to assist families with funded pre-need arrangements.
He lives in Columbus with his wife Karen Burnett and their children Spencer, Kathleen, and Ross.
Every person in our care is treated with the dignity we would give a member of our own family.
We answer the phone at 3 AM — no exception, no voicemail, no answering service taking your call in our name.
Every cost is explained before a family commits. We follow the FTC Funeral Rule — and we go further.
When a family chooses cremation, their loved one stays in our facility — never transferred to a third party.
We stay in contact with every family we serve for a full year after the service. Grief doesn't stop at the door.
We will never recommend or sell a family anything they don't need. Our relationship is with the family, not the margin.
Whether you need help now or want to plan ahead, the Lowndes team is always available — call, write, or come by.