Kathleen Collins Tilghman, age 87, passed away peacefully in her home September 29, 2019. She was born October 25, 1931, to David Franklin and Paralee Compton Collins in Elliott, MS. She was married for 65 years to the one and only love of her life, Leonard Marshall Tilghman, who preceded her in death in 2014.

A woman who was "doing it all" before most women of her generation realized that was possible, she worked a full-time job (as office manager for the Corp of Engineers), had a delicious meal on the table for her family every night by 6:30 sharp, and picked, shelled, and canned all the produce from her husband's huge garden.   She kept an immaculate house, and she was an excellent cook of "good, plain food." Her homemade chicken-and-dumplings or steak and gravy over rice and biscuits would make you want to slap somebody. She was an avid, lifelong reader and a gardener who loved tending to her beautiful flowers.

Mrs. Tilghman had a place for everything and everything was in its place. Particular and precise in all she did, it was incomprehensible to her how or why anybody would be any other way. She had a keen sense of right and wrong, and if she could have run the world, it would run much more smoothly and efficiently than it does.

Like wearing lipstick when one is out in public, attending church was not optional. She loved Jesus more than Pond's cold cream (and that's saying something). She was an active, lifelong member of Hardy Baptist Church, and she made sure all her children were there every time the doors were open. They will all be quick to tell you that if they turned out to be decent human beings, she is the reason for it. She was a true Southern belle—a "steel fist in a velvet glove"--and all who knew and loved her will miss her sharp mind and wise advice.

Mrs. Tilghman is survived by her three children: Kenneth Lacy (Ken) Tilghman and his wife Beverly, Deborah Kathleen (Kathy) Tilghman Williams and her husband Rick, and Melinda Allen; six grandchildren: Virginia Kathleen (Jenna) Aldridge, Russell Tilghman and his wife Richelle, Jennifer Kathleen Williams, Eric Lane Williams and his wife Jessie, Kaylie Ruth Walker and her husband Dylan, and Connor Michael Allen; and four great-grandchildren: Cora Crawford, Lennon Aldridge, Dahlia Tilghman, and Lane Barrett Williams.

Mrs. Tilghman was preceded in death by her husband as well as all eight of her brothers and sisters and all seven of her husband's siblings, so she had many loved ones she looked forward to seeing again.

A special thanks to her caregivers, Sherry Blanch and Lou Horton, who took such loving care of her during the final months of her life and were in the room with "Mrs. Kathleen," her daughter and her granddaughter when she went into the arms of Jesus.

Please join us as we celebrate her life during visitation at McKibben and Guinn Funeral Home located at 4817 Commerce Street in Grenada, MS, on Monday evening, October 7, 2019, from 5-7 pm, and for her funeral service at 10:00 am on Tuesday, October 8 ^th . In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations be made to her beloved Hardy Baptist Church, located at 750 Hardy Road, Grenada, MS.