Cora Mae Kirby

Thursday, August 21, 2025. Cora was born in Big Spring, TN on May 27, 1928, and grew up

in and around Decatur and the Meigs County, TN area. Her family were farmers, but also

sold timber, ran a sawmill, and various other enterprises, and her father later served

several terms as Meigs County Sheriff. She was the first family member to graduate high

school when she graduated from Meigs County High School, and then went on to attend

McKenzie Business College in Chattanooga, TN.

Cora returned to Meigs County after her schooling and worked for several local

businesses before landing a job at Oak Ridge National Laboratories in Oak Ridge, TN. She

initially traveled with other workers by bus, but later, after housing was built in the new

city, she relocated to Oak Ridge permanently. She was the head of the secretarial pool for

one of the sections at Oak Ridge and this is where she eventually met her husband, Bill

Kirby, a research scientist who was part of the wartime Manhattan Project. They

eventually relocated to Tullahoma, TN and she took on the important role of fulltime wife

and mother. She was full of life, loved to play bridge, sewed beautiful clothes for the

family, and chauffeured her children to all the activities that made childhood so

wonderful.

Mrs. Kirby was the daughter of the late Oscar and Hester Crisp Womac and wife of the

late William “Bill” Kirby. She is survived by her daughter, Teresa Kirby and her husband Ray

Linder of Primm Springs, TN; her son, Bill Kirby of Franklin, TN; step daughter, Pegeen

Thornton and her husband Bill; grandchildren, Michelle Thornton and Christine

Degnan (Michael); great grandchildren, Michael Degnan (Elizabeth), Joshua

Degnan (Lindsay), and Rebekah James (Don); great great grandchildren, Ethan Degnan,

Isaac Degnan and Hunter James; and niece Debbie Womac Goodwin. In addition to her

parents and husband, she was preceded in death by a brother and sister-in-law, J.A. and

Dot Womac; and niece, Jimmie Lynn Womac Kirkland (Jack).

A graveside service to celebrate Mrs. Kirby will be held on Friday, August 29th at 3:30 pm at

Roselawn Memorial Gardens, 5350 NW Broad Street, Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37129.