Patrick Thomas Kirby

loving wife of 28 years, Lucy, at his bedside, after a battle with cancer. Pat was born on

September 11, 1943 in Monterey, California. He grew up in Strawberry Point, Iowa, a small town

of 1,200, and graduated from high school there in 1961. Pat excelled in all sports in high school

and was a class leader.

Pat attended the University of Iowa where he received his B.A. degree in 1966 and his Master's

degree in 1968. Despite leaving Iowa in 1968 Pat remained a diehard Iowa Hawkeye for life. He

was granted a delayed reporting for active duty to as a 2nd lieutenant in the U. S. Army to obtain his doctorate. He then attended U.S. International University (USIU) in San Diego where he received his Ph.D. in 1971.

Pat then entered active duty with the U.S. Army and served in the quartermaster corps at Fort

Lee, Virginia and was promoted to 1st lieutenant. Upon his honorable discharge from the Army

he went to work in 1973 as the Assistant Dean of Students and assistant professor of

psychology at USIU in San Diego. In 1975, he became the Dean of Students at USIU.

In a decision that changed Pat’s life, and improved and enhanced the lives of so many other

fortunate people, particularly college students, Pat accepted the position of Dean of Students at

Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri in 1975. Pat held, indeed, embraced that position for 20

years into 1995, and he knew every Westminster student. Most often, Pat was the first

representative of Westminster College the new students would encounter and who would

become Pat’s good friends for life. He knew their backgrounds and their parents. He was

devoted to Westminster and of its students. As one Westminster grad recently wrote to Pat:

“You invested your life’s energy in each and everyone of us.”

For Pat, the Westminster students, faculty and staff were all members of his family. He treated

his friends as his own family, always with kindness, respect and encouragement. There were

occasional sad times and tragedies for the students, and Pat provided comfort and compassion

for the students and their families. An avid sports fan his entire life, Pat particularly enjoyed

serving as the baseball coach at Westminster for one season in the mid-1980s, and often joked

that those students all somehow overcame his coaching.

Students graduated every year from Westminster, remaining Pat’s friends for life. Having known

every Westminster student for 20 years, it was natural that in 1995 Pat was asked to become

the Director of Alumni and Parent Relations at Westminster, a position he gladly accepted. That

position gave Pat the opportunity to do what he loved doing, keeping in constant contact with all

the Westminster graduates, while encouraging prospective students to come to Westminster.

With good reason, Pat became known as “Mr. Westminster” many years ago.

In 1999, Pat accepted another new challenge that he thoroughly enjoyed when he became the

Vice President and Dean of Enrollment Services at Westminster, a position he held into 2007.

But 2007 presented Pat with another position at Westminster that he loved. He became the

Recruiter of International Students at Westminster. He held that position until his retirement in

2015. Pat took his love and enthusiasm for Westminster to an international level and created

new friends around the world. The outpouring of love received from those Westminster

international students is a wonderful testament to Pat’s worldwide work and love for

Westminster. Pat believed and always shared his belief everyone should be treated with

kindness and respect, and that kindness begets kindness.

Recruiting the international students for Westminster gave Pat the opportunity to spread the

Westminster story around the world, and it also gave Pat the opportunity to travel worldwide,

something he thoroughly enjoyed. He took such pride in saying that students from over 70

countries had enrolled at Westminster, and he knew everyone of them. Upon Pat's retirement

Pat was chosen to be a Senior Advisor for students to The Shelby Davis United World Scholars

Program. Pat and Lucy enjoyed the invitation and trip of a lifetime in April of 2018 to attend an

incredible wedding and celebration of a Westminster grad in Kathmandu, Nepal. Another

student said, “Every minute of Pat’s life was filled with the experiences of a lifetime.”

Pat was very active in the Fulton community, serving on the boards of the Callaway County Red

Cross and the Fulton YMCA. He enjoyed his long standing membership in the Men’s’ Mediocre

Bridge Club. He was active in all the athletic activities of his four sons in Fulton. Pat is survived

by his wife of 28 years, Lucy, and their two sons John and David in Aurora, Colorado. Pat is also survived by his sons Shawn and his wife Rachel in Kansas City and Bryan and his wife Laura in Alieso Viejo, California, three grandchildren Chad, Chase and Hunter. Pat is also survived by his brother Michael Kirby and his wife Carla in San Diego, and his sister Maureen Kirby Lassen and her husband Gary in Gold Canyon, Arizona.

Pat’s family is so thankful to Dr. Ramadoss, his nurse Christy, nurses and all the staff at

Missouri Cancer Associates, for their excellent expertise and wonderful care, which gave Pat

more precious time. Pat’s family also thanks the people at Hospice Compassus for their care

and kindness.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that gifts be made to the "Pat Kirby Endowed Scholarship" at

Westminster College in Fulton. A celebration of Pat’s life will be held at The Church of St Mary

Aldermanbury, on the Westminster College campus at 2:00 PM on Saturday, February 16, 2019.

A private burial service will be held with Pat’s family.

online condolences can be made at www.debofuneralhome.com