Whitson "Whit" Wilkinson Winfrey, Sr.

Whitson “Whit” Wilkinson Winfrey, Sr., age 81, retired farmer and cattleman of Somerville departed this life Saturday morning, April 25, 2015, at his residence with family after a long battle with cancer. He was born March 4, 1934, in Memphis, TN, the son of the late Mont Rhea Winfrey and Margaret Wilkinson Winfrey, life-long residents of Fayette County, whose families were early Fayette County settlers.

Mr. Winfrey attended Somerville Elementary and graduated from Fayette County High School where he played sports and was a member of Future Farmers of America.  He grew up working on his family’s Glade Springs and Chestnut Hill farms and in the family’s country store.  He was greatly influenced by his grandfather, Whitson H. Wilkinson, known as “Old Dad” or “Squire Whit.”  Young Whit enjoyed showing his livestock and spent his summers with cousins and family friends at Joyner’s Campground.

He attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and at Martin where he studied agriculture, played football and was a member of ROTC.  In early years, Mr. Winfrey was a U.S. mail carrier in Fayette County and later worked for the Ford Motor Company in Memphis.

On June 27, 1954, he married his high school sweetheart Laura Elizabeth Boswell of Moscow, TN.  They began married life east of Abilene, TX, on the Hardy Grissom Ranch where Whit worked with the Guitar family farming and ranching pure-bred Hereford cattle. When the couple began their family, they returned to Fayette County, where Whit continued the family’s farming and began his own cattle and livestock operations of Mule Shoe Farms.

Mr. Winfrey was a member of Oak Grove United Methodist Church, was active in community organizations such as the former Jaycees and was past president of the West Tennessee Livestock Association. Whit never met a stranger and he never forgot a face or name. He dearly loved his family and family heritage. Whit was a great storyteller and humorist who enjoyed sharing local and family history. Farming was his life-long passion and he loved the land and livestock, especially his cattle. He enjoyed cooking and hunting locally and in Texas and Illinois deer camps with friends, traveling with the farmers’ and livestock associations, and traveling to Texas and Florida with family and friends. He loved nature and the out-of-doors and he fed and made habitat for wildlife, including deer, wood ducks, hummingbirds and other migratory birds.

Mr. Whit was the patriarch of the Winfrey family “Sweathog Social Club” competition BBQ cooking team whose familiar team colors were orange and white. The team competed on the Memphis in May sanctioned circuit and was “team of the year” as the most-winning team on that circuit in 1994 and 1995. The team held 11 state grand championships and was Memphis in May World Champion in whole hog. The Winfrey family organized and hosted the Memphis in May sanctioned Hogmania Barbeque Contest in Fayette County for nearly a decade. Dear friendships were made and continued through the many years of barbeque camaraderie and competition.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Winfrey is survived by his daughter, Laura Lillian Winfrey of Somerville; two sons, Whitson Wilkinson Winfrey, Jr. (Donna) of Germantown, and Hunter Boswell Winfrey (Madeline) of Somerville; two grandsons, Adam Whitson Winfrey of Memphis, and Brandon Boyd Winfrey of Glendale, CA; a niece, Amy Love Doyal (Craig) and a brother-in-law, William W. Love, all of Montgomery, TX.

Mr. Winfrey was preceded in death by his father, Mont Rhea Winfrey, his sister Mary Margaret Winfrey Love, and his mother Margaret “Maggie” Wilkinson Winfrey, who was one of Fayette County’s centenarians.

A Celebration of Life Service for Mr. Winfrey was conducted at 11A.M. Friday, May 8th at the Peebles West Funeral Chapel at Oakland with Reverend Mike Krech officiating. Special music was provided by Mark Locke, vocalist, JG "Jay" Walker III, pianist and Mark Henderson, bagpiper.  Interment was private. Arrangements were provided by Peebles Fayette County Funeral Homes & Cremation Center – West Chapel at Oakland.

Honorary casketbearers were Mary, Cille and David Shelton Robertson, June Walker, Jr., Judy and Jerry Wilson, Bill Bailey, Jerry Cozart, Doug Simpson, Retha LeBlanc, Dr. Ray Lynch, Alex Moore, Thomas Howell Fowler and Bob Winfrey.

The family requests that memorials be directed to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, P.O. Box 1000, Department 142, Memphis, TN 38148, the Fayette County Chapter of the American Cancer Society, c/o Linda Taylor, 16845 U.S. Highway 64, Somerville, TN 38068 or the American Lung Association, One Vantage Way, Suite D-220, Nashville, TN 37228.