Margaret Jean “MJ” Kirkland passed away on November 10, 2023 at the age of 93 years and 353 days. A visitation will be held from 1:00-2:00pm, with funeral services at 2:00pm, all on Sunday, November 19, 2023 at Church-Archer-Pasley Funeral Home, 119 East Franklin Street, Liberty, Missouri. A private family burial will be conducted in Mt. Memorial Cemetery on the grounds of William Jewell College. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the Liberty School District Foundation in Margaret’s memory or the Church of the Resurrection – Downtown to purchase children’s books.
She is survived by her only surviving child Robert K. Kirkland (married to Pamela Cook Kirkland, who was a very caring and devoted daughter-in-law for the last 38+ years); five grandchildren, in birth order, Robert Spencer Kirkland (married to Gina Rebesco), of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Chad Matthew Kirkland (married to Taylor Martin Kirkland), of Chicago, Illinois, Amanda Kirkland Cascalenda (married to David J. Cascalenda), of Charlotte, North Carolina, Joseph Wilson Speer, of Brooklyn, New York, and Clare Elizabeth Speer, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; two great-grandchildren, Charles Robert Kirkland and Ada Elizabeth Kirkland, both of Grand Rapids, Michigan; and one nephew by marriage, Earl J. Kirkland, of Ithaca, New York.
She was preceded in death by one daughter, Margaret Elizabeth (“Bettie”) Kirkland (survived by her two children and her husband, Paul W. Speer), of Nashville, Tennessee, who died on October 23, 2023, and by her late husband, Robert Greene Kirkland, who died at the tender age of 53 on October 31, 1968.
Margaret was born on November 22, 1929, to Harold A. Withers and Lettie Titus Withers, of Excelsior Springs, Missouri, and was their only child. After high school, Margaret graduated from William Jewell College, of Liberty, Missouri in 1951. She married Robert G. Kirkland, of Liberty, Missouri, in 1955. She was a stay at home mom after her children were born, but then quickly resumed her elementary school teaching career in 1968. She had immeasurable influence on hundreds of elementary children over the decades in the Liberty Missouri School District.
In later years, she doted on her five grandchildren. She loved bragging about each of their academic successes, and cheering them on in athletic contests, musical efforts, school graduations, etc. Until the very last, she wanted to hear and see all the latest news about each of them. She was an avid bridge player most of her life, and enjoyed a wide circle of friends and activities, including travel with her friends and with us. She was periodically sad to have out-lived so many of those friends, but we assured her that she would see them all again someday. A life, not without some tough times, but well-lived nonetheless. You didn’t hear or read many public accolades about her, yet she truly left her mark. Just ask one of her grandchildren, who all lovingly called her “Gram”.
