Edna Sullivan Jenkins, 79, of Sumner passed away peacefully on Feb. 21, 2025, at the Lighthouse Assisted Living and Memory Care in Ocean Springs, Miss. Edna was born on Dec. 22, 1945, in Webb, Miss., to Sam Raleigh and Oma Barrentine Sullivan.
She attended Webb-Swan Lake School and graduated from West Tallahatchie High School in 1964. Soon after graduating high school, Edna married the love of her life, Zack Jenkins. She went on to attend cosmetology school, earned her license, and opened her own beauty shop. They eventually moved away to work in both Birmingham and Montgomery for several years before returning to Sumner to settle again.
Edna was a member of the First Baptist Church in Sumner where she served on numerous committees, sang in the choir, participated in the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU), and taught Sunday School over the years. She retired from Entergy, formally Mississippi Power and Light (MP&L) and, after several years of retirement, returned to work at Region’s Bank in Sumner because she enjoyed being around and interacting with people. Edna and Zack later moved to Ocean Springs, to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren.
Edna enjoyed cooking, attending church, planting and grooming flowers and plants in her yard and spending time with her children, grandchildren and their families. She will be remembered for her kind heart and outgoing personality.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 58 years, Zack M. Jenkins; sister, Frances Glover of Greenwood, and brothers James and Gerald Sullivan of Webb.
Edna is survived by her daughter, Allison Jenkins Jones of Ocean Springs, Miss.; son, Wiley Z. Jenkins II (Tiffany) of Redondo Beach, Calif.; three grandchildren - Will (Natalie), Jacob, and Peyton; and one great-granddaughter, Harvey.
Visitation for friends and family will be held at Meredith Nowell Funeral Home in Clarksdale, Miss., from 4 to 6 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 26 and there will be a grave-side service for family and friends on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 11 a.m. Jenkins-Pennington Cemetery in Sumner with Rev. Millard Caulder presiding.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be sent to the First Baptist Church (PO Box 145) in Sumner, Mississippi.
Meredith Nowell Funeral Home in Clarksdale, Miss., will handle the local arrangements.
