Roll Call Tribute

James Yancy Bounds, Maj. USMC (Ret) 

March 3, 1943 - January 8, 2026 

Graveside funeral services with Military Honors for Major (RET) USMC, James Yancy Bounds, 82, of Carthage, Texas will be 2:00 p.m. Friday, January 16, 2026, at the Deadwood Cemetery Pavillion with Chaplain Carey Ponder officiating. Burial will follow under the direction of Hawthorn Funeral Home. Visitation will be 6-8:00 p.m. on Thursday at Hawthorn Funeral Home.

James Yancy Bounds was born March 3, 1943, in Deadwood, Texas. He passed this life January 8, 2026, in Carthage, Texas. James was one of nine children born to the marriage of Willie B. Nail and John Grady Bounds. He was raised in Deadwood and schooled in Carthage graduating with the Bulldog Class of 1961. He attended Texas A&M University where he played football. He received his master's degree from Pepperdine University and his doctorate from University of Texas in Tyler. James married his love Brenda Sue Petty October 19, 1968. He served his country proudly as a Major in the United States Marine Corps. He flew F-4 Phantoms and was a Top Gun Graduate. After his retirement from the military, he taught as an alternative schoolteacher in Hughes Springs I.S.D. and Elysian Fields I.S.D. and again retired. Mr. Bounds served as the Past President of the Panola County Texas A&M Former Students Assoc., was chosen for the Carthage High School Athletic Hall of Honor in 2018 and was inducted into the Carthage Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame in 2013. He loved traveling, watching his kids and grandkids sports and time with family and friends.

He is preceded in death by his parents, brothers Henry "Mack", John Grady, Howard, Billy, Travis, Dal Bounds; sisters Connie LaGrone and Thelma Baysek.

Mr. Bounds is survived by his wife of 58 years, Brenda Bounds of Carthage; sons, Lieutenant Colonel (RET) USMC, James Yancy II and wife Melanie Harriman Bounds of Riverview, FL, Travis Yancy and wife Karen Kappler Bounds of Henderson; sister-in-law, Jeanette Bounds of Carthage; grandchildren, Joshua, Ty, Ryan, Taj, Annie, and Thor Bounds; numerous nieces, nephews and a host of friends.