Virginia Evelyn Kirby

Virginia Evelyn Kirby, age 105, died November 10, at her home in Pike Road, Al. Mrs. Kirby was born on January 10, 1916, in Kansas, Al. Her father was a coal miner, and she was the second of four children. She graduated from Carbon Hill High School in 1934, where she played basketball and won the school spelling bee. At a time when few women went to college, she headed to Livingston College and graduated with a teaching degree in 1936. She taught in classrooms through north Alabama before and during World War II. In 1942, she took a train from Alabama to Marfa, Texas, where she married T.A. Kirby, a cavalry officer at the time.

After the war, Mrs. Kirby settled with her husband in Montgomery, where she was a vital member of the Church of Christ. Until well past age 100, she still read the Wall Street Journal and did her floor stretches each day. She carried hundreds of casseroles and tea cakes to neighbors and church members and grieving families. She timed it all carefully so they would still be warm. She could tell the difference between a homemade cake and a cake from a box with a single bite, although she would never be rude enough to mention it. If she had the choice between making more work for herself or more work for someone else, she always did the work. She would slice your grapefruit into segments and turn down your bed. Her life was a series of gifts given—her time, her thought, her work, and her love.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Roy Webb, Sr. and Lillie Alma (Tesney) Webb; her husband, Thurman Kirby; and her siblings, Carson Webb, Roy Webb, Jr., and Clara (Webb) Trimm. Survivors include her daughter, Gina Kaye Phillips of Montgomery; her granddaughter, Ginny Phillips Ashe (Frederick) of Birmingham; and her great-grandchildren, Eli, Liza, and Laughlin. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at Greenwood Cemetery: mourners should meet at Leak Memory Chapel. All are welcome.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Leak-MC.com for the Kirby family.