I didn't have a lot of classes with Kirk, but who could forget Sr. English with Mrs. Daniels (MAD/the Bionic Bun). I remember she was sick for a long time and we had some pretty bad subs. One tried to give us a pop quiz and every hour refused to take the test. Kirk, bless his heart, tried to do the right thing but, like the rest of us, didn't know the answers either. He took his frustration out on the trash can - dented it/practically bent it in half. We were all amazed or in shock. Not sure which.
Kirk was a Brookwood Beaver, then an Indian Creek Scout, and then a Raider. Even though he turned out to be a hell of a football player (and a coach, I think), I'll never forget his roots as a nerd, along with me and Jeff Gore. Rest in peace, Earth Kirk!
I'll never forget in Junior High Science class, David Forester and I were class clowns and Kirk was really serious. We'd be fooling around and we'd hear Kirk growl under his breath at us and get pissed off that we were distracting him. We'd call him "Kirk Kong." At the bell, he'd tell us how he was going to tear us apart and David and I would bolt down the hall as fast as we could with Kirk hot on our trail. (It's a good thing we were faster!)
At first, he really disliked us, but after awhile it became a game and he'd end up trying not to smile as we ribbed each other back and forth.
I have many fond memories of those days, Kirk.. Too bad we can't have a beer and laugh about them now.
When my family moved to KC in the summer of 1971 Kirk was the second person to befriend me in 5th grade (after Harry Mallin) at Brookwood E.S. Kirk and I became best friends in time and we were inseperable for many years. We spent the school year hanging out and spent a lot of time playing sports and getting in trouble over the summers. High school found us both very busy with school, work and all the other activities that consumed our lives, but we still found time to hang out. Kirk always presented a very rough exterior to everyone at school, but he had a very kind soul. Kirk graduated college, completed his masters degree and then went to law school completed that and as I recall he had passed the bar and was back at south teaching and coaching, and had gotten married and had two children all by the time he passed away. Kirk was ever the over-achiever.
I was home on leave in 1987 and was trying to track Kirk down so we could catch up on our lives and I found out from his mom that he had had surgery for a brain tumor a week prior. I went and saw him in the hospital. He could not speak, so his mom had written out the alphabet on a piece of cardboard and he could only communicate by pointing to the letters on the board and spelling out what he wanted to say. The doctors felt positive that they had gotten all of the tumor, but the trauma from the surgery had left Kirk trembling like an 80 year-old Parkinsons patient. A couple weeks later I headed back to my current assignment and Kirk seemed to be better over the times I saw him, although he seemed to be going to have a long, hard road to recovery. About a week later I received a call from his mother to let me know that Kirk had died of complications from the surgery, the primary factor being pnumonia. At the time of his death he was the same old Kirk. I guess he was still in the 280 pound range and was quite proud that he could bench over 300 pounds with ease (which he stated was clearly more than I could lift). Kirk was a good friend.
Gayle Thomas (Hopkins)
I didn't have a lot of classes with Kirk, but who could forget Sr. English with Mrs. Daniels (MAD/the Bionic Bun). I remember she was sick for a long time and we had some pretty bad subs. One tried to give us a pop quiz and every hour refused to take the test. Kirk, bless his heart, tried to do the right thing but, like the rest of us, didn't know the answers either. He took his frustration out on the trash can - dented it/practically bent it in half. We were all amazed or in shock. Not sure which.Harry Mallin
Kirk was a Brookwood Beaver, then an Indian Creek Scout, and then a Raider. Even though he turned out to be a hell of a football player (and a coach, I think), I'll never forget his roots as a nerd, along with me and Jeff Gore. Rest in peace, Earth Kirk!Darby Moran (Lohrding)
Rest in peace Kirk, you were a hellva good guy! ~DarbyRichard Morefield
I ran into Kirk in law school. He was a man of many talents.Tucker Johnston
I'll never forget in Junior High Science class, David Forester and I were class clowns and Kirk was really serious. We'd be fooling around and we'd hear Kirk growl under his breath at us and get pissed off that we were distracting him. We'd call him "Kirk Kong." At the bell, he'd tell us how he was going to tear us apart and David and I would bolt down the hall as fast as we could with Kirk hot on our trail. (It's a good thing we were faster!)At first, he really disliked us, but after awhile it became a game and he'd end up trying not to smile as we ribbed each other back and forth.
I have many fond memories of those days, Kirk.. Too bad we can't have a beer and laugh about them now.
Jeffrey Gore
When my family moved to KC in the summer of 1971 Kirk was the second person to befriend me in 5th grade (after Harry Mallin) at Brookwood E.S. Kirk and I became best friends in time and we were inseperable for many years. We spent the school year hanging out and spent a lot of time playing sports and getting in trouble over the summers. High school found us both very busy with school, work and all the other activities that consumed our lives, but we still found time to hang out. Kirk always presented a very rough exterior to everyone at school, but he had a very kind soul. Kirk graduated college, completed his masters degree and then went to law school completed that and as I recall he had passed the bar and was back at south teaching and coaching, and had gotten married and had two children all by the time he passed away. Kirk was ever the over-achiever.I was home on leave in 1987 and was trying to track Kirk down so we could catch up on our lives and I found out from his mom that he had had surgery for a brain tumor a week prior. I went and saw him in the hospital. He could not speak, so his mom had written out the alphabet on a piece of cardboard and he could only communicate by pointing to the letters on the board and spelling out what he wanted to say. The doctors felt positive that they had gotten all of the tumor, but the trauma from the surgery had left Kirk trembling like an 80 year-old Parkinsons patient. A couple weeks later I headed back to my current assignment and Kirk seemed to be better over the times I saw him, although he seemed to be going to have a long, hard road to recovery. About a week later I received a call from his mother to let me know that Kirk had died of complications from the surgery, the primary factor being pnumonia.
At the time of his death he was the same old Kirk. I guess he was still in the 280 pound range and was quite proud that he could bench over 300 pounds with ease (which he stated was clearly more than I could lift). Kirk was a good friend.