Former Ole Miss Athletics Administrator, First Rebels SWA Passes Away

Kathryn Strickland, a former athletics administrator at Ole Miss, passes away in the Magnolia State.

Nov 2, 2024; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Ole Miss Rebels helmet during the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Mississippi won 63-31. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

OXFORD, Miss. – Kathryn "Kittye" Strickland, 92, a former athletics administrator at Ole Miss, passed away Tuesday in Oxford.

An Oxford native and a 1954 University of Mississippi graduate, Strickland spent 44 years working in the Ole Miss Athletics department (1954-1998), including serving as the Rebels' first senior women's administrator.

She served as an assistant athletic director for 11 years, where she worked with the athletic director in the areas of women's sports, as well as administering internal operation aspects of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.

An accounting major, Strickland began working with the athletic department business office immediately after her graduation from Ole Miss in 1954. She worked in various capacities and was the bookkeeper and assistant to the director of finance at the time of her promotion in 1988.

We are saddened by the passing of Kittye Strickland, Ole Miss' first SWA. Our thoughts are with her family.

— Ole Miss Athletics (@OleMissSports) June 19, 2025

The funeral service will be Saturday, June 21, at 1 p.m., in the Chapel of Waller Funeral Home in Oxford. Visitation will be held prior to the service beginning at 11:30 a.m. in West Hall of Waller Funeral Home. Burial will follow the service in Clear Creek Cemetery.

In addition to her parents, Kittye was preceded in death by her husband, William E. "Bill" Strickland; her sister, Sis Robertson Reese; and brothers, Dub Robertson and Chick Robertson.

Survivors include her daughter, Julie Jones and her husband, Paul, of Oxford, Mississippi; son, Dr. Les Jones and his wife, Sheila, of Madison, Mississippi; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Expressions of sympathy or memorial contributions in Strickland's memory may be made to North Oxford Baptist Church, Post Office Box 1700, Oxford, Mississippi 38655, or to Clear Creek Cemetery Fund, 46 County Road 313, Oxford, Mississippi 38655.

(Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics Press Release)

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