James Perkins Agnew, II, “Perk”, 91

Published 2:34 pm Thursday, May 24, 2012

BURKEVILLE, May 24 – James Perkins Agnew, II, “Perk”, 91, of Burkeville, died Monday, May 21, 2012 following a short illness in the hospital. Mr. Agnew was the oldest son of the late James Stuart Agnew and Elizabeth Bostick Agnew of Inverness Farm, Burkeville.

He was the widower of Martha Meade Hardaway Agnew, to whom he was married for 61 years.

He is survived by his youngest sister, Helen Koonce and husband, Arnold of High Point, NC; sister-in-law, Louise Hardaway Boswell of Farmville; his oldest son, James “Stuart” Agnew II of Williamsburg and his youngest son, James “Jim” Perkins Agnew III and wife, Kim of Mechanicsville, with whom he lived the past four years. He was preceded in death by his sisters, Lillian Agnew Leath of High Point, NC and Betty Agnew Rosenberg of Brandermill and a brother, William Thomas Agnew of Waverly Farm, Burkeville.

“Perk” began to help run Inverness Dairy Farm in Burkeville in his mid-teens due to his father's early death. He was well known as an excellent dairyman, winning several milking records. He also showed prize cows up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

When he retired from the farm in the early 1990s, he worked as a handyman and substitute mail carrier for the Burkeville and Green Bay post offices. He later became a full-time mail carrier for the same area.

Mr. Agnew was a member and elder at Burkeville Presbyterian Church where he served as a deacon and then elder for 65 years. He attended Salem Presbyterian Church in Mechanicsville the last four years.

A private memorial will be held for the family at a later date.