Kirk Wayne Winterrowd

(1967-2025)

Kirk’s favorite things were cars, video games, computers and technology, and animals, especially cats. As a kid, he dreamed of working on video games and had a passion for cars. Kirk possessed a friendly gregariousness recognized by anyone who met him. He spoke animatedly about all the subjects, people, and pets he held close to his heart.

Kirk Wayne Winterrowd was born July 27, 1967, in Pecos, Texas, to Curtiss and Janet Winterrowd. After an adventurous few years they moved from Pecos to Austin; to El Paso and back to Austin where he attended pre-school, kindergarten, elementary, and some of junior high. As a young boy, Kirk would spend hours each day outdoors with his friends and cousins. While he and his parents lived in Austin, Kirk and his friends would explore the Barton Creek greenbelt that was close to their home. During this time, they would find frogs and other treasures and ride their bikes around the neighborhood. He spent many summers with his maternal grandparents, whom he called Gran and Dad Dad, in Pecos, Texas, where they kept some farm animals, including Shetland ponies and calves. He admired his Dad Dad, who led the congregation in song at the Barstow Baptist Church, while also volunteering as a fireman for the town and surrounding area. Kirk and his cousins would adventure all over Pecos, and his grandmother never worried because everyone in the community recognized the kids and kept an eye on them. His Gran could entice Kirk to try new foods, and he “helped” her make her famous pies with homemade pie crust, heaping cinnamon and sugar on the pie crust scraps.

Kirk enjoyed movies and television shows, especially from the science fiction or horror genres. When he was a child, his mother, Janet, introduced him to scary movies when he was eight years old with The Wolfman, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. Janet and Kirk sat together in a bean bag chair watching the film on TV. Kirk’s dad, Curtiss, donned a scary mask and jumped through the swinging door between the rooms. Both Janet and Kirk flew up in the air! Kirk marveled at the creatures and make-up used for various science fiction characters and movies, especially for werewolves, vampires, Godzilla, the Predator, Alien, and the world of Star Wars. He dressed up in a werewolf costume when he and his friend Robert Hudson entered a video arcade costume contest, winning a “bucketful” of tokens. He resumed his werewolf costume as an adult, participating in the Haunted House at Britannia Manor in Austin. While at a dentist’s appointment in the 1990’s, he asked the doctor if it would be possible to make him a set of fangs; the doctor made a custom retainer that Kirk would wear as the crown jewel of his vampire costume for Halloween or other costume parties.

In the summer of 1977 Kirk asked his cousins to go to the movies and not really knowing anything about the film, chose Star Wars based solely on the name. Kirk sat transfixed in his seat in the theater, as the scrolling credits started with the explosive first notes of John Williams’ seminal score. After he got home, he called his friend and said, “Have you seen Star Wars yet? Do you want to go again?” He watched the iconic film in the theater ten times that year. His fascination and love of Star Wars continued when the next two movies were released, and he proclaimed The Empire Strikes Back the best of the three. He started to collect action figures and took excellent care of his toys.

In 1979 Kirk’s parents finally settled in Odessa, Texas, where Kirk completed junior high and then attended and graduated from Permian High School. He and his friends would spend hours in the shopping mall arcades, challenging each other on the large gaming machines. Home gaming systems were also a pastime, but Kirk appeared happiest when he was with all his friends at the arcade. He met his closest friends in the junior high band and had a friendly rivalry for the First Chair position with friend Steve Allred. At Permian, Kirk was a member of the famous Permian High School marching band, and he swam for the Permian swim team his first year of high school. He then made the difficult decision to dedicate his hours before the start of the school day to the Mojo Band. Kirk was an outstanding trumpet player. He loved marching band, getting thrills from playing his trumpet, many times in a solo performance, in front of a packed stadium crowd. He would always "tip" his horn to say hi to his parents during the half-time performances, a special tribute to them. Kirk made many friends in the band, with a few of his close friendships enduring for years. The Permian Band competed in the UIL State Marching Band Competition every year, and in his sophomore year, they won the 5A State Marching Band Championship held in Austin at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium. Once Permian was announced as the winner, Kirk and his friend Steve ran down the ramps screaming and cheering all the way to the bus. The Mojo band took the runner up position the following two years.

After getting their driver’s licenses, Kirk and his friends spent countless hours driving up and down “the drag” in Odessa, each of them taking turns driving. They listened to music and talked about the girls in their lives (who were such a mystery to teenage boys), discussed Star Wars, Permian band, and told each other dumb jokes. Sometimes when his cousin Russell was in town, they cruised the drag and raced people in Janet’s Camaro, and the whole time Kirk rattled off which cars they could beat and which ones they couldn’t based on their various engine sizes. During his senior year in 1984, Kirk and his friend Steve joined the band’s Equipment Committee, whose responsibility was to load and unload band equipment and large instruments from an 18-wheeler prior to football games and pack it all back up afterwards. This proved a valuable experience, as they were given significant autonomy and responsibility.

After Permian, Kirk attended Odessa Junior College and was selected to play in the Odessa Junior College Jazz Band. The band traveled to London, England and played at such establishments as The Braintree Arts Festival, the Bass Clef Club, and the Prince of Orange Jazz Pub. Kirk had a great time as they toured London. The television show Dallas was just as popular overseas as in the United States, and Britons they met were fascinated by the Texas students and asked if they lived on a ranch, if they rode horses, and if they knew the Dallas Cowboys. When the students told the inquisitive people “no,” they seemed so disappointed, that Kirk and his friends started saying “yes!” While at Odessa College, Kirk was selected for the "Who's Who" among students in American Junior Colleges who demonstrated superior academic achievement, service to the community, leadership in extracurricular activities, and potential for continued success.

Kirk transferred to Texas Tech University to continue his studies in Marketing. He joined Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity, a co-ed business fraternity. While studying at Texas Tech, he received an offer to work for Richard Garriott’s video game company, Origin, in 1990. Kirk excitedly accepted the offer, starting his career in the video game industry as the thirty-third employee at Origin in the role of an Alpha Tester on Wing Commander's second mission disk, Crusade. With his dependability and enthusiasm for cars, Kirk helped Richard arrange for maintenance of his exotic sports cars. Kirk was at Richard’s house on a day when his boss had allowed a co-worker to hold a birthday party for their twin pre-teen daughters. Kirk offered to give a parent and sister of one of the young guests a tour of the castle-like home, showing them the secret passages and indoor swimming pool. No one knew that on this day that the sister of the party guest was his future wife, Stephanie.

Kirk moved into audio production at Origin, creating sound effects and providing voices for many of the Wing Commander and Ultima game series, and composed music for Wing Commander Academy, Ultima Online, and several other games. Kirk’s work is consecrated in these games and for the fans that still play and discuss them. Even Wing Commander fans oblivious to the work that went on behind the screens knew the name Winterrowd. That's because he was honored with a pretty major tuckerization on his very first project, a ship named the TCS Winterrowd! With Kirk’s warm and friendly personality, he made several life-long friends at Origin. His cousin Russell, whom Kirk assisted in bringing into the company, and a few friends and colleagues, credit Kirk for helping launch their careers.

Russell returned the favor to Kirk in the mid-1990’s when he was working for Iguana Entertainment, and they needed someone who knew video game audio. Kirk joined the company where he did all the sound effects for the games, mainly NFL Quarterback Club Football. To this day if you want to hear his voice, it is immortalized as the referee voice on Quarterback Club 1994. You can hear him on Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis saying “Touchdown! First Down! Safety!” and all the other NFL referee calls.

He continued his video game journey when he joined Acclaim Studios in 1998 as a public relations manager, traveling to Florida and New York for his role and interviewing players of different sports teams. In 2000 he followed his friend, Matt Stubbington, to Big Sesh Studios, where he was the Director of Sales and Marketing for the graphic design company for two years.

His enthusiasm for cars, both for driving and discussing them, connected Kirk with many people in the Austin car industry. He took an opportunity to help grow the department responsible for advertising and the burgeoning internet leads for car sales at Howdy Honda as the internet marketing manager. The dealership wanted this department in their building but was limited on space. They created offices for Kirk and his co-workers in a converted area that was previously a breakroom, complete with a dishwasher. Kirk’s resourcefulness transformed the dishwasher into a filing cabinet. This spirit, along with his computer savvy, took him to Roger Beasley Mazda in 2004, where he helped create the Business Development Center, serving as the manager, helping car salesmen connect with leads from car buyers, and using his marketing skills in email campaigns for car sales, parts, and service.

In 2010 he transitioned to a significantly smaller car dealership, Motorphilia, where they specialized in finding cars for customers. Kirk managed the automotive transactions and vehicle registrations for their internet clients. He accompanied Motorphilia’s owner, Aaron Manley Smith, to north Texas for automobile auctions several times a month, while also regularly attending a local car auction. His networking in the car industry led him to Mosing Motorcars, a small, specialty car dealership that sold classic and high-end sports cars, frequently by consignment. Kirk utilized his marketing and PR skills alongside his friend Eric Beverding. Friends and fellow car enthusiasts would drop by the dealership to chat, inspect the cars, or discuss other cars. Kirk, Eric, and friends would frequently walk over to Circle Brewery, an independent brewery housed in a warehouse behind the dealership. Kirk enjoyed learning about the beers from discussing the operation with the owners, Ben and Judson, and tasting the resulting adventurous brews. This habit planted the idea for his wife Stephanie to plan Kirk’s surprise 50th birthday party at the brewery, which was especially memorable because of the July heat in the un-air-conditioned warehouse. His role at Mosing changed from sales manager to general manager in 2017 when his friend Eric left the company. Kirk worked closely every day with his friend Glenn Nordell, the dealership’s owner, Jeff Mosing, and later with Stephanie Bauer when she joined the tiny team. The dealership moved from the showroom on Braker Lane into the warehouse off of Research Boulevard where Jeff housed his car collection. Kirk planned a few events held in the space and enjoyed giving a tour of the cars to customers.

Even with the exposure to classic and high-end sports cars, Kirk’s romance with the Mazda Miata endured. Driving his car brought him joy and a huge smile, especially when he zipped through traffic or drifted into a turn (which brought squeals of anxiety from his wife Stephanie). He enjoyed modifying his little car, especially the exhaust. Kirk spent hours researching different exhausts, ordering multiple, and then testing them out on the car to discover which sounded best. He proudly performed the swap of the exhausts himself, and drove around, recording the sound and also inspecting the appearance of the pipes from the rear. He would post his findings and opinions on the Mazda Miata forums, helping other Miata devotees in their quest for their ideal roadster.

Kirk’s love of cats dictated that once he acquired one, he would never only have one cat in his home again. He had two cats during his childhood, Smokey and Snowman. He was the “cat whisperer”; cats would come to him when they would shun all others. He found two of his beloved cats using these cat communicative skills, rescuing the kitten Chester from outside a Dairy Queen restaurant in Llano and the kitten Simon from under a car parked outside of Big Sesh Studios. In June of 2000, Chester introduced him, indirectly, to Stephanie Swanzy, a veterinary assistant at Westgate Pet and Bird Hospital. He found out that Stephanie had just completed her first year of veterinary school. Stephanie thought he was handsome, and a few days later when Chester’s file rotated up for a follow-up call, Stephanie asked the veterinary technician who usually called the clients if she could call about this one patient. The technician eagerly replied, “You can call as many as you want!”, waving to a towering stack of files. Stephanie said, “No, I just want to call this one.” She spoke with Kirk, who told her that he always wanted to be a veterinarian, and asked if she would be willing to get coffee or dinner and tell him it was like in the day of a life of a vet student (Chester was fine). Having just completed her first year of veterinary school, Stephanie earnestly agreed because she would tell anyone about vet school. On June 30, 2000 Kirk and Stephanie met at Eastside Cafe for dinner until the restaurant had to close up for the night, continuing their evening on the deck of Mozart’s Cafe until 2 a.m., when the security guards pulled the chains across the driveway for the night.

They spoke of many things, learning about each other, such as their age difference -- Kirk was 9.5 years older than Stephanie. At one point in the conversation, Kirk said, very seriously, “I have something to tell you.” Stephanie’s brain slightly panicked, thinking, “what, you’re married? You have children?” Looking into Stephanie’s eyes, Kirk said, “I was previously married.” Stephanie blinked at him and asked, “But you’re not married now?” No, and he told her he did not have kids. Stephanie was surprised he was anxious about telling her this historical fact, but he insisted some women would find it an issue. Stephanie did not. She then said, “Well, I might as well tell you that my fiancée broke up with me a month ago.” Kirk took the news in stride but decided to slow down his pursuit of dating Stephanie and kept their relationship platonic. For a long time. To the point that Stephanie spoke with her best friend, Adria, about her worries that he was not truly attracted to her because he had not yet held her hand or kissed her. Kirk and Stephanie saw each other through the summer and kept in touch while she was at vet school in College Station, Texas. In November of 2001, Kirk asked Stephanie to accompany him to San Angelo, Texas to visit his parents for Thanksgiving. She nervously accepted, as this was her first introduction to his parents, and they drove in his Miata to west Texas. After a lovely holiday, they drove home, and while he was driving, Kirk reached over and held Stephanie’s hand.

Over the next two years, Kirk drove the 100 miles to see Stephanie on long weekends when she could not come back to Austin. He was the proudest boyfriend of a newly graduated veterinarian! Stephanie moved back to Austin and Kirk moved into the same apartment complex where she lived. After two years, they found a home very close to Stephanie’s veterinary clinic where they’ve lived for the past twenty years. They blended their seven cats into one not-so-harmonious and ever-changing indoor colony.

Kirk and Stephanie introduced each other to their friends, resulting in many double dates in the prolific and varied restaurant scene. On several occasions they would meet up with groups for New Year’s Eve or birthday celebrations. Kirk met Stephanie’s elementary-aged goddaughter, Ruth, leading to several Trick-or-Treating wanderings on Halloween, game nights, and ice cream treats at Amy’s Ice Cream. As the godfather-by-association, Kirk proudly watched Ruth graduate from a rigorous high school program and grow into adulthood.

Kirk continued to enjoy driving fun cars into his adulthood, including a 1995 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo, a Honda S2000, and then the car that he would be recognized for owning, the Mazda MX-5, also known as the Miata. He bought his first one in 2001, and over the next nearly 25 years, owned five Miatas. He shared his passion for this little speedster car by joining the Miata Forum online and the Tejas Miatas car club in Austin. He became a moderator on the Miata Forum, sharing his experience and expertise with the Japanese sports car. He was voted President of the Tejas Miata Club in 2006 and served in this position until 2012. Kirk and Stephanie loved driving through the Hill Country of Texas, and a little beyond, with this group of Miata enthusiasts. Sometimes they would be participants and drive along routes such as the Willow City Loop and to Lost Maples State Natural Area, other times Kirk would lead a run, with Stephanie helping to navigate using paper maps (this was before Google Maps). Two of these drives would hold deep significance to Kirk in the future. One run was along and on roads off of FM 1431 where it connects Marble Falls to Interstate 35 north of Austin, tracing through the hills north of Lake Travis alongside Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. Kirk saw a sign directing traffic to a winery. He led the club down two small, two-lane roads to Flat Creek Estate. This winery became a favorite for Kirk and Stephanie. They would come out on a Sunday afternoon to sit and drink wine and chat with Rick and Madelyn Naber, the owners of the estate. They’d bring friends out and, of course, returned with the Miata club. One year they helped out with harvesting the grapes, starting very early in the morning in mid-August!

Another favorite Miata drive (or “run”) that Kirk loved to lead was to the Gatesville Drive-In. In 2009 Kirk continually asked Stephanie to make sure she would be home from the clinic on the Saturday of the drive to make it to the meet-up location later that afternoon. Stephanie made it on time, but thought Kirk seemed a little anxious that day. The run went well, driving through the hill country to arrive at the drive-in early enough to claim parking spots in the front (because it’s hard to see over large farm trucks when you are sitting in a Miata). People brought camp chairs and snacks to enjoy while waiting for the sun to set. When dusk fell and it was dark enough to turn on the film, Kirk told Stephanie to look at the screen because she wasn’t really paying attention, since the movie was not yet starting. Oh, someone is asking someone to marry them…

The words scrolled up, “Stephanie…. Will You Marry Me… -Kirk.”

Stephanie looked at Kirk who got down on one knee, gazed up at her and said, “Will you?” She eventually closed her mouth and said, “Yes!” when he asked her again with a little strain in his voice. Stephanie did not see the first movie of the double feature that night.

Kirk’s love of animals intersected with the fun of driving the Miata on one hill country run. He and Stephanie drove in the back of the line of cars on the run on a moderately hilly country road, passing by ranches and fields. They saw the cars ahead of them straddle an object in the middle of the lane. Kirk slowed the car and saw that the lump on the pavement was a baby goat! Kirk pulled over and collected the kid, who appeared unharmed. The noise of bleating goats reached them from across the two-lane roadway, and they walked over to return the goat to its herd. The rancher who saw them with the animal told them to just put him on the other side of the fence, without sounding much concerned that one of his livestock was out in the middle of a highway. Kirk gently placed him as directed, but grumbled as they returned to the car that they should have kept the goat. Kirk told Stephanie many times that he wanted one or more baby goats, to which Stephanie said no, because they grow up to be adult goats.

When Kirk and Stephanie finally made plans for their wedding three years later, they asked Madelyn at Flat Creek Estate if they could hold their wedding at the winery. Madelyn asked what date we were considering for the ceremony, and they told her November 27, 2011. The summer of 2011 set records for heat in the Austin area to date. A cold front blew in on the day of the wedding, and Kirk reminded all the guests that the ceremony would be held in the outdoor pavilion and to dress accordingly. Kirk, Stephanie, the photographer, and videographer planned to take all the wedding party and family photographs prior to the wedding, as the sun would set by the time the ceremony started. The photographers helped create a “reveal” of the bride -- Kirk waited by a reflection pool outside the building where Stephanie dressed. At the designated time, she walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder; he turned around and greeted his bride. The night turned very cold after the sunset, and fortunately the ceremony, performed by their friend Dave, was short. After Kirk and Stephanie said the vows they had written, they were pronounced married and hurried into the tasting room to get warm, drink wine, and eat dinner (pasta)! Their special night was perfect, captured by a talented team of photographers and videographers. Kirk and Stephanie stayed the night in the Estate’s Vintner's Quarters on the property.

Kirk and Stephanie did not take a honeymoon immediately, but found an opportunity to attend their friends Jim and Claudia’s wedding at Bolongo Bay, an all-inclusive resort on the Caribbean Island of St. Thomas in 2014. Despite a brief asthma attack, Kirk immersed himself in the beach, the waves, and also found that the resort had two “resort cats”. They went out on a catamaran to see and swim with turtles, dived in the resort's cove for bottles of the locally made rum, and celebrated their friends’ wedding.

Kirk and Stephanie had a memorable time at Stephanie’s high school friend’s wedding in Walla Walla, Washington in 2015. They spent the weekend celebrating with her friend Stephanie and her new husband, Greg, going to winery tasting rooms, a brewery, and enjoying a whole pig roast at the wedding. Thanks to Flat Creek Estate, Kirk and Stephanie had developed a passion for wine. While visiting Walla Walla, Kirk found that he actually liked Merlot wine, just not California Merlot. They joined two wine clubs from the Walla Walla area, starting their foray into “collecting” wine.

While dating Stephanie, Kirk was introduced and eventually became brother-in-law to her sister Emily. Emily and her boyfriend, Chris, would travel from the Dallas area to visit Stephanie and Emily’s parents at their new home in Pflugerville. This house served as a vacation spot for Emily and Chris, as they had the second floor of the home to themselves, and Stephanie and Kirk would come over for dinner and spend evening hours in the hot tub or afternoons in the swimming pool. As Chris is a professional jazz musician, Chris and Kirk loved to talk about their shared instrument, the trumpet, as well as all things music. Kirk and Stephanie drove to Dallas to see Chris perform on several occasions and were especially proud to attend his performance that showcased his own album and compositions. Chris and Emily married in 2011, and their first child, Jonathan James Borin was born on September 5, 2012. Kirk loved being an uncle, though he never did help with diaper duty. He was smitten with his niece, Marian Lanola Borin, who was born on September 1, 2015. While family and friends visited Emily and newborn Marian in the maternity ward, he distracted a three-year-old Jonathan in the lobby of the hospital. As the children grew, he became a favorite uncle because they could climb on him, and Kirk would swing and slide them around on couches and floors. He bonded with Jonathan over video games, and Marian confided in him. When Marian was first learning to talk at around one year old, she could not pronounce “Uncle Kirk”. The resulting sounds of her attempts did resemble a name, and so Marian bestowed upon Kirk his forever nickname, “Itchy Toe.”

Stephanie started recreational running while in vet school, and their friend Sondra asked her to join a team of five other women to run a leg of a marathon distance relay race in Corpus Christi called Beach to Bay. Kirk and Stephanie stayed with the other runners in a large condominium in Port Aransas, where they cooked, laughed, and walked on the beach. Stephanie did this for three years, and Kirk made the trip each time. These running weekends forecasted Kirk’s devotion to supporting Stephanie’s hobbies. In 2007 she started training to run her first marathon, joining a running club and coach to guide her along this new endeavor. With her dedication to the training plan, she met her coach a couple of times in the hills for the evening’s workouts after the rest of the group was finished. On a couple occasions, Kirk took her to the location and then followed her in his Miata as she ran up and down the neighborhood hills. On February 17, 2008, Kirk, Stephanie’s mother, and college friend Andrea, cheered Stephanie on as she ran through the streets of Austin. This was the beginning of Stephanie’s crazy running habit, and as she ran more marathons over the years, Kirk went with her to nearly all of them. He thought she was so funny when she had to walk down the stairs in the house backwards because her legs were very sore in the days after her races. One of the most memorable marathons for Kirk was making the trip to the 2010 Boston Marathon. Kirk, Stephanie’s mother and her sister Emily all flew to Boston for this momentous race. They stayed in a couple of different hotels, and Kirk found out that his future mother-in-law snored! Together the four of them explored Boston, seeing a few landmarks, especially the bar Cheers. Stephanie qualified for the historic race three more times, and Kirk went with her for two of them. He stayed home in 2012 when his beloved Chester, the cat that brought Kirk to Stephanie, was ill with cancer.

Kirk found the race day environment infectious and talked about running a shorter race than the marathon. He told Stephanie he would join her one day when she was heading out for a run in their neighborhood. She said her plan was seven miles, and Kirk said he’d run with her for not quite that far. They came upon the large park in the development, and Kirk asked how far they’d run. When Stephanie replied, “a third of a mile,” Kirk said he was turning around and going home. Stephanie arrived home an hour later. Kirk did run a couple of 5K races at events where Stephanie ran either a half marathon or marathon. Stephanie found an event held out at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin that had a 5K, half marathon, and marathon; Kirk signed up for the 5K, while Stephanie trained for the marathon. He had a great time running on the racetrack, commiserating with other runners about the hill at Turn One. After he finished, Kirk cheered on Stephanie, who was the third woman overall in the marathon. The other race Kirk entered was in and on the lands around Flat Creek Estate. Kirk and Stephanie ran this event with their friends Jim and Claudia; Stephanie ran the half marathon and Kirk ran the 5K. They had a great day, with Stephanie placing in her age group. Everyone celebrated with the winery’s fabulous wine!

When Stephanie was preparing for the Boston 2012 race, Kirk suggested she try an e-reader, rather than taking multiple books. He knew of her love for books and her resistance to accepting the new technology. She reluctantly agreed and discovered that the Kindle was a very convenient device that held scores of books in a lightweight tablet form. Kirk was Stephanie’s geek -- he fixed all her computer and technology problems, though he eventually could not help much with the iPhone because of his dedication to nearly everything that was made by Google. Many people relied on Kirk’s technology prowess, including his parents (he was their favorite IT Specialist), co-workers, and friends. Kirk would sometimes trade his IT skills and labor for other favors, such as helping a friend with their internet or TV connections in exchange for mending a pair of jeans.

Kirk did not always accompany Stephanie to her continuing education seminars for her work, but excitedly agreed to go to the Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas in 2017. Stephanie’s college friend Misty, who also graduated from Texas A&M’s Vet School, and her husband Dave, met up with Stephanie and Kirk in “Sin City.” While Misty and Stephanie attended education sessions, the guys explored the Exhibit Hall, where vendors such as drug and vaccine manufacturers, pet food manufacturers, book publishers, and suppliers of other veterinary tools plied attendees with free gifts (ball caps and stress-balls for example) and games to win prizes. Kirk and Dave had a grand time and entered several contests. A month later, Kirk and a representative from one of the veterinary supplement companies came by Stephanie’s veterinary hospital with the surprise that Kirk’s efforts had won them the grand prize of a $5,000 travel voucher!

Kirk and Stephanie decided to use the prize to go to Hawaii, a dream destination. They separately took an online quiz to help determine which island they should visit, and Kauai was the choice of both. They stayed a week at the beautiful Koloa Landing Resort at Poipu in Koloa, in a room that felt like a two-bedroom condominium with a full kitchen, long balcony, and a breathtaking view of the property and ocean beyond. They drove along the Waimea Canyon, which looks similar to the Grand Canyon, stopping at some of the scenic views. Kirk walked out on a couple of the rocks, giving Stephanie nervous fits. They took a boat tour of the Na’ Pali Coast, where they snorkeled and also saw dolphins and a whale with her calf! Kirk was excited to take Stephanie on her first SCUBA dive trip. A storm the night before their dive determined that they would go on a shore dive, rather than a deeper dive off a boat. They met up with a dive guide and one other diver, who only joined them on one of two dives. Kirk had to keep reminding his “buddy” to not swim off by herself. They saw native fish and eels, but not any octopus. While sightseeing, they saw several waterfalls, ate tropical fruit, cooked with local ingredients, and toured the Kauai Coffee Company. A highlight of their Hawaii trip was the pineapple farm tour. They found a farmer’s market one evening at a shopping center within walking distance from their rental property. Kirk stumbled across a booth for Sugarloaf Pineapple and was amazed at the taste. Though he knew that Stephanie does not like pineapple, Kirk insisted that Stephanie try the fruit, saying “I think you’ll like this.” She did. They drove to the pineapple farm the next day, met the owners (and their Parson Russell Terrier), and took a tour, where they picked and planted pineapple. As a reward for their work, the owners handed out frozen pureed pineapple, which tasted like a light pineapple ice cream. Kirk ate at least 5 cups! He ordered these remarkable pineapples for delivery to his parents after they arrived home.

Kirk’s Star Wars fandom never waned, and in 2022 Kirk, Stephanie, and Emily’s family took one of his most memorable vacations -- to The Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser hotel in Florida. Kirk’s inner child emerged during this interactive stay in the Disney World property. Kirk, Emily, Chris, and the kids joined the role-playing and immersive activities provided by the actors and Disney team. No detail was spared, from the employees asking what planet they were traveling from, to learning how to wield a lightsaber, and protecting the ship during a turn in the captain’s bridge. They visited the attractions in Disney World’s Galaxy’s Edge park dedicated to Star Wars, including the Rise of the Resistance ride that brought tears to Kirk’s eyes during the experience when large doors opened and over twenty storm troopers stood in ranks with a background of a window view of stars. This encounter fanned the flames of his enthusiasm for light sabers. He researched and bought many light sabers, mostly to keep, but a few to give to his nephew and niece.

Kirk enjoyed traveling with Stephanie and with Emily’s family, whether for a marathon, visiting family or friends, or for vacation. In 2024, the six of them flew to Aruba for five days, leaving on Kirk’s birthday. Kirk and Stephanie had an early flight that morning, and while standing in the security line, his merriment shining off of him, he mentioned that Stephanie did not seem enthused, nor had she wished him a “Happy Birthday.” She grumpily replied that she’d had four hours of sleep and was going to give him birthday wishes once they were seated on the airplane. They met up with Emily’s family, Kirk reprising his role of uncle and walking the terminal with the kids, returning with each childbearing a new neck pillow. Emily commented on how sweet it was that their uncle bought them a pillow after they both left theirs at home. The flight attendants on the airplane spotlighted all the passengers with birthdays, asking them to come to the front of the plane so that everyone could sing happy birthday. They gave Kirk a sweet card and “wings” (pin). Chris’ aunt arranged for a beautiful charcuterie board made by a local woman to be delivered to the resort for Kirk’s birthday; it was a welcome treat after a day of travel. They spent time lounging on the beach, swimming in the ocean (in the resort’s designated area), and floating around the resort’s pool and lazy river, which was the kids’ preferred activity. Everyone went on a boat trip to snorkel off the coast. The boat was fashioned after a historic pirate ship, complete with rope swing. The boat crew helped the passengers grip the swing’s handle then push off to fly over the ocean and then release the handle, plunging into the ocean close to the boat. Stephanie, Emily, and Kirk all took part, and convinced Jonathan that he should give the swing a try. He showed significant reluctance at first, but he watched his uncle, and after a tentative first swing, he found it more fun than he imagined. During this vacation, Kirk spent much of his time with his niece and nephew, inviting them to his room where the three of them nestled into the couch’s pull-out bed and watched a movie. For a couple of days Marian, and then Jonathan, did not feel well; Kirk stayed with them in the rooms, looking at videos or playing video games. Kirk and Chris cooked fish and shrimp, bought from a local fishmonger, on the outdoor grills on the resort. While they were cooking, a stray cat wandered up, to the delight of everyone.

Despite his limited appreciation for running, Kirk was a sports fan. While he attended Texas Tech, he and his friends would attend all the Tech athletics events they could, both men and women’s -- football games, basketball, baseball. He would also play pickup basketball games with friends. While dating Stephanie, he learned that his pre-conception of Aggies as strange and cult-like was mostly misplaced. He went to at least one football, basketball, and baseball game with Stephanie. He learned the depth of Aggie pride and family, though still thought them a little odd. While Texas Tech and Texas A&M were competing with each other in NCAA sports, Kirk and Stephanie cheered for their own teams -- healthy rivalry. One day they were driving around town listening to a game on the radio. They decided to go to dinner, but by the time they arrived home to the apartment complex, the game was still in play. A wager was made: whoever’s team lost the game, that person bought dinner. They got ready in their own apartments, then met back up at the car, where they learned the outcome of the game; Kirk bought dinner. Eventually Kirk would own more Aggie T-shirts than Texas Tech ones. Kirk and Stephanie loved to watch college sports, and not only their own teams. He watched any of the teams playing football on Saturdays, and especially the games of NCAA Basketball -- men and women, as long as they were good games. He would sometimes pause a game on the television, call Stephanie downstairs, and say, “you’ve got to see this.” For the past several years they would print and make their own bracket projections for the NCAA Tournaments. Kirk would also watch professional football, though not as religiously. When he was young, the Miami Dolphins were his favorite team. In 2017 his allegiance shifted to the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, a Texas Tech Red Raider, whom Kirk followed throughout his career at Tech.

Kirk loved animals, most notably cats and marine life, especially sharks. When people met him and discovered he and Stephanie had 7 (or, later 11) cats, they erroneously presumed the collection was due to Stephanie bringing them home because she is a veterinarian. Kirk happily corrected them and told them he was responsible for bringing the majority of the cats into their home. He either found them in the wild world (under cars, in a tree), or could not part with them after fostering them as kittens. He always wanted to interact or watch young kittens play. He fostered kittens for a friend’s rescue group several times, including helping to feed bottle babies (orphaned kittens not yet weaned to kitten food) several times a day. He would stop on the side of the road if he saw a small animal (e.g., a cat or opossum) that had been hit by a vehicle and did not appear to have significant trauma. One day he stopped on a road leading out of his neighborhood and saw a cat in the gutter. When he approached it, the cat found enough strength to run off and into a large drainage culvert. Stephanie helped him corral the cat, capture her, and take her to the Austin Animal Center, where she was nursed back to health and adopted. He would also rescue wild creatures when they were in peril. One night his own cats played with and injured a house gecko. Kirk carefully extracted the reptile and rushed him to the nearest emergency vet to try to save its life. On another occasion, Kirk's boss, while on his lunch break, found a baby squirrel that fell out of a tree. He brought it back to Kirk’s office and asked Kirk what to do. Kirk called Stephanie and told her he was bringing home a baby squirrel. He allowed the small creature to cuddle up in the crook of his neck, smiling and not-so-secretly wanting to keep it. Stephanie and Kirk were concerned about the sound of the squirrel’s breathing, so Stephanie called a local veterinary emergency hospital, as it was 10 pm, and

asked if they would monitor the squirrel overnight and Kirk would pick it up in the morning and take it to Austin Wildlife Rescue. They accepted the baby, who did very well, and Kirk drove him to AWR the next morning.

Kirk developed a taste for craft beer and Texas-made wine. He enjoyed trying different beers at local (or any small, craft brewery), finding that he preferred IPAs, but not west-coast IPAs. Stephanie did not like light or pale beers, and drank dark beers, such as porters or stouts. Fortunately for Stephanie, Kirk would drink the dark beers as well, because inevitably she would nurse a pint (or a half-pint), and Kirk would finish two beers and occasionally help Stephanie with the last of hers.

In the late 2010’s, Kirk and Stephanie were introduced by their friends Kelli and Kyle to the Texas Hill Country wineries in the miles between Johnson City and Kerrville. The four of them visited many of the area wineries, discovering the delight of Texas made wine, which led to joining several wine clubs. Kirk visibly relaxed when he was out in the hill country, looking out over the landscape and sitting in the fresh air, lamenting the cost of homes and property in the area. They would spend full days and weekends attending winery events, talking with the owners, and drinking their wines. Kirk enjoyed learning about the wine making process and different varieties of wine. He took an online TABC server’s course to get his alcohol server’s license and worked several times in the newly built tasting room at 12 Fires Winery. Kirk took great pleasure in sharing his knowledge with customers new to wine. This exploration of wineries included joining the Austin Winery located in south Austin, very close to Kirk and Stephanie’s friends, Darrell and Rebecca. They would meet up to pick up wine at this winery that focused on natural wines, then continue their evening with dinner.

Over the last six to seven years, Kirk nurtured a growing appreciation for firearms. His father-in-law gifted him several guns and a couple of rifles, and Kirk did what he usually does when he becomes interested in a subject: he researched. He spent hours on websites of gun manufacturers and forums for novice and more professional gun handlers. Kirk set his focus on getting his concealed handgun license and achieved his goal in 2022. He and his friends Darrell, Dylan, and Eric would visit a couple of gun ranges and shoot their various guns. He came home the victor in his most recent outing with Dylan, where his skills surpassed Dylan on the target contests.

Kirk lived his life fully, spending his time doing activities that brought him joy. Whether he was driving his Miata, entertaining his niece and nephew, spending time with his friends, or grocery shopping with Stephanie, his infectious positivity and generous spirit shined.

Kirk is predeceased by his grandparents, Dick and Jo Hamilton Pattillo, Curtiss and Earnestine Cain Winterrowd. He is survived by his wife, Stephanie Swanzy, his parents Curtiss and Janet Pattillo Winterrowd, his sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Emily Swanzy Borin and Chris Borin, nephew Jonathan James Borin and niece Marian Borin, and many Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.

A celebration of life for Kirk will be held Saturday, May 31, 2025 from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home, 14501 North Ih-35, Pflugerville, TX 78660.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Kirk's memory may be made to Austin Humane Society; Austin Wildlife Rescue; and or any animal or ocean charity of your choice.