Junior Midkiff

Published 10:59 am Tuesday, January 5, 2021

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On Friday, Jan. 1, Junior Midkiff, loving husband, father to seven children, passed away at the age of 84. Junior was born on Apr. 25, 1936 in Cumberland County to Ira and Livvia (Sharp) Midkiff. He worked at Cumberland Restaurant, the Shoe Factory in Farmville, owned and ran the Dillwyn Esso and spent many years as a grower for Holly Farms and Tyson Foods. On Oct. 5, 1957 he married Mae Waycaster and together they had one son, Grayson. After Mae’s death, Junior married Nancy Sutton Layman on Apr. 28, 1979. They enjoyed 41 busy years farming together. Junior was best known for his years of stock car racing at Southside Speedway as Cumberland’s 15A Racing Team, winning numerous races and titles. He was an avid softball player and coached little league baseball teams and spent many later years attending varied sports events of his grandchildren. He was a mechanic at heart and enjoyed working on vehicles and shared his skills to help others in his family and community whenever needed. Junior was preceded in death by his father, Ira; his mother, Livvia; his first wife, Mae and Nancy’s son, Mike Sutton. He is survived by his wife, Nancy and her five children, Feda, Nancy, Nick, Steve and P.B.; his son, Grayson; his brother, David; 21 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren and one great, great-grandson born on Dec. 31, 2020. Graveside service was held Jan. 4 in Jones Chapel Baptist Church Cemetery. Dunkum Funeral Home served the family.

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