Ivie Middleton

Mrs. Ivie Lee Middleton was born on March 8, 1925, to the late Thad and Lillie E. Young Harvell in Okolona Arkansas. She attended Simmons High School in Okolona. She married Johnnie Middleton and to this union five children were born.

Ivie was a member of West Gum Springs COGIC. She enjoyed cooking, gardening, quilting, and sewing. She was a simple lady who didn’t believe in change. She made her own clothing and had about 12 dresses that were the same color. She was a wonderful cook, specializing in banana pudding and vegetable soup. She was most fondly known for her stovetop cooked corn bread in a round cast iron skillet and her sweet checkerboard cake. She knew how to take a little and make much.

In 1945, when CB Radio became a household item, Ivie had to have one. She loved the CB Radio, and her handle was “Lady Jap”. She would spend hours on the CB talking to friends from all over. Above all she lived a modest life and loved her family with tenderness.

On November 20, 2024, at the tender age of 99 she departed this life. She was preceded in death by her parents, Thad and Lillie Harvell; a son, Charles Middleton, and twenty-one siblings.

She leaves loving memories with four children: Charles Middleton of Curtis, AR, Wallis (Jean) Middleton of Gurdon, AR, Clyde Middleton of Arkadelphia, AR, and Varrie Hamilton of Memphis, TN; four siblings, Katie Richardson, Charlie (Margie) Young of Prescott and James Harvell of Blytheville AR, and a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and friends.