Mildred Jenkins Kirkland

Funeral services for Mildred Jenkins Kirkland will be held Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 2 p.m. from McClain-Hays Chapel with Rev. Cliff Barker officiating. Burial will follow in Vardaman Cemetery. Visitation will be held Saturday, February 27, 2021 from 12 noon until service time at McClain-Hays Funeral Home. McClain-Hays Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Mildred Jenkins Kirkland, 85, passed away at her home on February 24, 2021. Mildred was born in Meridian, Mississippi, on January 9, 1936, to R.B. and Vesta Eakes Jenkins. She moved to Neshoba County as a young child and lived there for the majority of her life. She was a member of Vardaman Baptist Church in Kemper County. Mildred worked as a seamstress at Wells Lamont Glove Factory for 43 years. “Mibby”, as she was known to her siblings, was an excellent cook whose biscuits, butterbeans, cornbread, and sweet tea were often requested by family members. One of her nieces even lovingly coined her “The Butterbean Queen”. In 2018, Mildred was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Rodney Kirkland. She was also preceded in death by her parents; sisters: Helen Jenkins Burkes and Judy Jenkins Pullin; brothers: Herman Jenkins, Robert Hollie Jenkins, and Charles Jenkins; and infant sister, Mary Isabel Jenkins. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Tammy and Reggie Shumaker of Philadelphia; grandson, Adam Shumaker of Starkville; granddaughter, Faith Shumaker of Philadelphia; and twin brother and sister-in-law, Milton and Sandra Jenkins of Ocean Springs. Pallbearers are Jason Blair, Scott Blair, Chase Eubanks, Rafe Eubanks, Zander Kirkland, and Eddie Nowell.