Pattie Jean Lewis Sparks Midkiff

With deep sadness, we announce the peaceful passing of Pattie Jean Lewis Sparks Midkiff on July 7, 2025, at 95 years old. She was born August 4,1929, in Laurel Branch, Kentucky, the oldest daughter of John and Vivian Lewis. She married H.T. Sparks after graduating high school and had 7 children. She was the Best Mother Ever to John (Liz), Jane (Bill), Jack (Teresa), Janet (Ana), Jean (Mick), Julia (Ann), and James; Nanny to Courtney, Jake (Julie), Zack (Sarah), and Cody; great-grandmother to Maggie, Sawyer, Henry, and Lucy. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by oldest son John, former husband H.T. Sparks, husband Dan Midkiff, Jr., brothers Allie Lawrence Lewis and James M. Lewis, and sister Ramona Kay Schmidt. She is survived by sister Doris Gresham, brother John L. Lewis Jr., and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
She wasn't just Mom and Nanny to her family - she was the Jordan Heights' neighborhood Mom: LEGENDARY for nursing scraped knees, baking homemade pizzas and sugar cookies, and on Saturday mornings, counting a show of hands in the family room for breakfast. She dedicated her life to creating a warm and nurturing home and somehow truly made everything look easy.
She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Olive Hill, Kentucky, where she served as an assistant Sunday School teacher for 25 years and belonged to the Women's Missionary Union. She lived in Olive Hill, Kentucky, until the summer of 1982 and moved to Oneida, Kentucky. She started the day care center for the children of faculty and staff at Oneida Baptist Institute (OBI). After two years, she began work in the OBI Front Office, where she greeted visitors and answered the phone, being the first face and voice for many contacts at OBI for the remainder of her 30-year career at the school. She met and married Daniel B. Midkiff, Jr. and in 2012, they retired from OBI when she was 83. She was a member of Oneida Baptist Church for 37 years and served
in several roles, including nursery worker, choir member, and treasurer. In the late 1990s, OBI built a new Child Development Center, and it was named for her.
Special thanks to Suzanne, Cathy, the Paulas, Samantha, Martasha, Darla, Trish, and Kayla for the exceptional loving care that she received at Heritage Garden Memory Care at Liberty Ridge Senior Living. Thanks also to Bluegrass Care Navigators and Lynne at Wheelers Pharmacy.
Her loving heart, kindness, and compassion were an inspiration to all who knew her.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Liberty Ridge Employee Benevolence Fund at 701 Liberty Ridge Lane, Lexington, KY, 40509; Bluegrass Care Navigators at 1733 Harrodsburg Road, Lexington, KY, 40504; or the charity of your choice. There will be a celebration of life at a later date.
She will be dearly missed and we will cherish her memory forever.