NORA DUNCAN CELEBRATED HER 100TH birthday, spending nearly 90 of those years in Midway. She was surrounded by friends, caregivers and family at the big event. (Photo submitted)

 

Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift proclaimed Monday, Aug. 12, as Nora Duncan Day recognizing not just her 100th birthday, but her remarkable life lived for over 70 years in Midway.

“Writing this proclamation really impressed upon me the wisdom that someone who’s lived a century has,” said Vandegrift. “It’s important that we treat our elderly with dignity and respect, and learn as much from them as we can.”

Mrs. Duncan has a lot to teach, according to her oldest child, Gayle Mayeux, who was raised in Midway and now lives in Louisville. 

“She is a great mother. When we were growing up, Midway was so small and safe. She’d send me and my three brothers (Glen, Mark and Kenneth, all of whom live in Woodford County) out and we’d spend the day with our friends playing baseball, riding bikes and she just didn’t worry about us . . . it really taught us how to be independent, but home was filled with love and support,” she said.

In a lively interview with the Sun, Mrs. Duncan said she herself was from a large family –  the middle of 13 children and her baby brother is still living. Though a tiny woman, about 5’ and never bigger than a hundred pounds, her daughter said she never shied away from hard work or fun. 

Her family moved to Midway from Franklin County when she was a baby and her father farmed near town. When she was 14, her father passed away and the family moved to Scott County.

“When her father died, Mother had to leave school to help out the family,” Mayeux said. “But, she loved the library and from there taught herself. She absolutely loved the bookmobile that came to Midway from Versailles – she used the bookmobile a lot.”

Mrs. Duncan sojourn across the border to Scott County did not last. In 1951 as newlyweds, she and her husband, Leonard, moved to Cross Street in Midway. Leonard farmed and worked at the post office in Lexington. One of her sons still lives in the house. Mrs. Duncan said she met her usband in Lexington when she, her brother and friends would go dancing to the Big Band sound like Benny Goodman.

When asked why she decided to stay in Midway for ninety years, Mrs. Duncan was quick with an answer, “I love Midway . . . it is a good place with good people. It had a wonderful library and good schools.”