Obituaries

Therese ‘Terry’ Pounds (Joiner): 1927-2024

Therese “Terry” Pounds (Joiner), 97, of Montclair, NJ died peacefully surrounded by family at Mountainside Hospital on Wednesday, September 11, 2024. Beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, cousin and friend, Terry was born a ‘survivor,’ having lost her mother who died soon after her birth in 1927 in New York City. She subsequently lived all over the world as a self-described “army brat” after her father, Colonel Talley Dosier Joiner, remarried and reclaimed “his little Therese” from her aunts who raised her until she was six. After graduating from Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ, Terry briefly attended college at Trinity, DC, then decided to go to Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School in NJ. The skills she learned there served her well at her first secretarial jobs in Manhattan, then later at Montclair Kimberly Academy in Montclair where she worked for almost twenty years in the Office of External Affairs. She was proud of her mastery of the rules of English grammar, and many relied on her to proofread their letters. After the death of her husband in 1978, Terry set up a Montclair chapter of THEOS, a nationwide non-denominational support group for widowed men and women. She ran the group for approximately ten years and created friendships from that work that lasted until her death. She was also involved with the Friends of Barnet and the Montclair Fine Arts Festival.

Terry was predeceased in death by her husband, Donald Pounds, her son Richard, her beloved companions, Arthur Jones and Fred Berinato, and her sisters Lucy and Claire. She is survived by her son Donald Pounds and his companion Patrice Holtzer, daughter Mary Pounds Sisler, daughter-in-law Bette Pounds, sons James Pounds (Bethany) and Thomas Pounds (Liljana), daughter Virginia Pounds, sons Michael Pounds (Catherine) and John Pounds. She was the proud grandmother of sixteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren: Katy, Austin, Colleen, Connor, Jordan, Jason, Jeremy, Natalie, Anika, Evan, Noah, Ben, Eli, Max, Harper and Nolan; Scarlett, Emma, Carson, Peyton and Wesley. She is also survived by a large extended family and countless friends.

Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, November 9 at 10 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, 30 N. Fullerton Ave., Montclair, NJ 07042, followed by interment of ashes at Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Upper Montclair.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Terry’s name to The Release Recovery Foundation at: https://donate.hakuapp.com/donations/new?fundraising_effort=in-loving-memory-of-therese-terry-pounds.

Donald Kouba

03/28/1932 - 09/08/2024

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Obituary For Donald Kouba

Born in Carlstadt NJ, Don Kouba was the youngest of three children of Oscar and Mary Kouba. After high school he enlisted in the Navy and served in the Korean war as a medic aboard the USS-Glynn. After the war, Don met his sweetheart, Patti, at Montclair State College. They settled in New Jersey to raise their three beloved children: Wendy, Kim and David.

Don was a school principal in Leonia, NJ for 35 years, a job he relished spending each day working with children and surrounded by teachers dedicated to improving the lives of their students.

He also loved donuts. Despite Patti's constant attempts to keep him on a healthy diet, he was known to sneak a donut or a slice of cake, usually from one of his children. Sorry, Mom.

An avid sports fan, he grew up playing baseball and basketball. A Brooklyn Dodgers fan as a kid, his favorite player was Jackie Robinson. After his Dodgers left for Los Angeles though, he became a lifelong New York Mets fan -- for better or for worse (usually worse). Unfortunately he was also a Jets fan and a Knicks fan. While Don Kouba was indeed a great man, he was certainly not great at picking winning sports teams to follow.

In retirement he became active in Kiwanis and picked up golf. Don enjoyed many days on the links in New Jersey with the 'Pomona gang'. Patti and Don soon became snowbirds, and for the next 25 years, spent winters surrounded by great friends in Ormond Beach, Florida, playing bocce and golf and having many fun evenings out to dinner with their friends.

His greatest love, though was his family. He is survived by Patti, his wife of 67 years and his three children, son- and daughter- in-law and his grandchildren: Kendall, Carson, Maya, Nicholas, Maxwell, Violet, Ivy, Oskar and Hugo. At the mention of any of them, Don would beam with pride. He was always eager to tell any stranger in an elevator or passerby all about his children and grandchildren.

On September 8, his family and the entire world lost one of the most kind men to ever grace this planet. Don Kouba was a wonderful, loving father and grandfather, a great husband to Patti and a friend to all who were lucky enough to meet him.

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