February 5, 2026, 72, Mount Olive – Cathy Holmes Southerland Graham, a lifelong resident of the Mount Olive area, passed away in her sleep early Thursday morning, February 5, 2026, at her home.
Cathy had been employed at Burlington Industries, and later at O’Berry Center in Goldsboro.
Funeral services will be held Monday, February 9, at 2 p.m. at Tyndall Funeral Home with burial to follow in Maplewood Cemetery. The family will receive friends during the hour before the service. At other times, friends and relatives will be welcomed to the home of Steve Holmes.
Cathy leaves behind her son and daughter-in-law, Freddy Norman and Candice Southerland of Mount Olive; a daughter, Lisa Southerland Hood and special friend, Paul Anderson, of Mount Olive; five grandchildren, G. I. Hood, Megan Hood, Ivy Hood, Mason Dixon, and Daxton Southerland; two great-grandchildren; and her brothers, sisters, and in-laws, Joe and Joyce Holmes of Mount Olive, Linda H. Gruebel of Mount Olive, Jackie Holmes of Dudley, Ricky Holmes of Mount Olive, Mike and Joyce Holmes of Calypso, Rose H. and Joe Hudson of Mount Olive, and Steve Holmes of Mount Olive; another sister-in-law, Florence Holmes of Ellaville, Ga.; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by an infant son, Frederick Bruce Southerland, Jr.; her parents, James Russell “Sonny” Holmes and Clara Bell Brock Holmes; a toddler brother, Dennis Lee Holmes; two brothers, James Wade Holmes, and Russell Holmes; and a brother-in-law, Tom Gruebel.
