Arkansas-Louisiana Conference President, 1937-1943
His Early Years
Ira Curtis Pound was born on May 16, 1889, in Mount Washington, Kentucky, to Richard Morris Johnson Pound and his wife Sally. Ira’s sister, Effie Mae, was four years old when he was born. Verna Irene was born in 1892 and David Edison (Ed) in 1897. The children’s father, Richard, a native of Kentucky, taught school there for over 50 years, also working as a colporteur in his later years (Bulletin, 1932; Ancestry, 2021). He was an active member of the Seventh-day Adventist church, helping with tent meetings and preaching on occasion (Review, 1888).
Years of Ministry
Ira grew up in Kentucky, where he met and married Edna Scott on April 8, 1913. He became a pastor and that same year began working in the Tennessee River Conference as the Field Missionary Agent. From 1915 to 1937, Elder I. C. Pound pastored in Nashville, Tennessee; Paducah, Kentucky; Clarksville, Tennessee; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Jackson, Mississippi; New Orleans, Louisiana; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Ardmore, Oklahoma (Yearbook, 1913-1981). He was ordained at the September 1920 Mississippi Conference session (Review, 1920). Elder Pound worked diligently to spread the gospel, establish churches, and baptize new believers as he traveled throughout these southern states, trying to answer the many calls that came for help. During this time he raised up the churches in Baton Rouge and Monroe, Louisiana. While in Mississippi, the Pound’s son, Ira Curtis Pound, Jr. was born. Elder Pound served as the President of the Arkansas-Louisiana Conference from 1937 to 1943, after which he moved to Roseville, California to pastor the church there. In 1944, Edna passed away at the age of 56. The following year, Elder I. C. Pound moved to St. Augustine, Florida, where he pastored for the next 25 years. Ira married Julie Inabinet, who was a church school teacher in the Arkansas-Louisiana Conference, on January 7, 1946 (Ancestry, 2021).
Retirement Years
In 1971 the Pounds moved to Henderson, North Carolina, to pastor the Flat Rock church until 1978, at which time he retired. While there, Elder Pound and his wife donated the $12,000 needed to purchase the property to build a church in Upward, North Carolina. He, his brother, Ed, and another man hacked and cleared the long-neglected property, uncovering a ready-made park with shrubs and flowers still blooming, creating a beautiful place to build the church (Worker, 1980). After serving his beloved Savior for 67 years, Elder Pound passed away the following year on November 29, 1981, followed by Julie less than two months later, on January 16, 1982 (Ancestry, 2021).
Citations
(1881, Aug 2). Review and Herald, p. 2.
(1913 – 1981) Yearbook of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination. Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association.
(1920, Oct. 7). Review and Herald, p. 13.
(1932, May 19). Pound Funeral at Beck Home Tomorrow P. M. The Bristol News Bulletin, p. 1.
(1980, May 1), Southern Union Worker, p. 6.
Ancestry Family Trees. (2021). Ira Curtis Pound. Retrieved from ancestry.com.
How it all Began 