Calvin Kirk

Calvin Kermit Kirk of 40 Westwood Road, Shrewsbury, died on Monday, October 28, 2019 after a brief illness caused a severe stroke. His wife of 57 years, Doris Jane (Capen) Kirk, passed away in 2009. He is survived by his five children: Christopher of Shrewsbury; Peter and his wife Mary of Salisbury, MA; his daughter Caroline Horgan and her husband Robert of Medfield, MA; Stephen and his wife Joyce of Harvard, MA; and Mark and his wife Gayle of Cary, North Carolina; and by his three grandchildren: Paul, Evan, and Katherine. He was born on December 17, 1924 in Ridgewood, Queens, NYC, New York, the son of Charles Jackson Kirk (1876-1945) and Philippine Elizabeth Mueller (1888-1955). His brothers Charles Jackson Kirk, Jr. (1914-1984) of East Williston, New York and Franklyn Woodrow Kirk (1918-2012) of Lakewood, Ohio, predeceased him. He graduated with honors from Richmond Hill High School of Richmond Hill, NY in 1942. During World War II, he served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army’s 66th infantry division, 263rd infantry regiment, Company M, 1st platoon, fighting along the western coast of France, particularly at Lorient and St. Nazaire, where the Germans had established naval bases. After the war’s end, he served with U.S. occupation forces in Vienna, Austria. Upon his discharge from the military, he studied mechanical engineering at Columbia University in New York City. He graduated in 1950. Also, in 1950, he joined the Norton Company of Worcester, MA. He initially served as a salesman in the company’s machine tool division, rising to become general sales manager and then vice-president of the division. His duties took him to Europe, the Soviet Union, and China, shortly after it opened to the West in 1978. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University. The division was later sold, and eventually he became president of the company. He was granted several patents for machine tools. He enjoyed studying the history of World War II, sailing along the Maine coast, researching his family’s genealogy, woodworking, painting, photography, playing the organ, model railroading, and using “Flight Simulator” software. Soon after the advent of personal computers, he wrote software for his business and finances. He was much loved and will be dearly missed. Relatives and friends are invited to visit with the Kirk family on Saturday November 9, 2019 from 10:00-11:00 am followed by a funeral service honoring his life at 11:00 am at the Britton-Shrewsbury Funeral Home, 648 Main Street, Shrewsbury. Burial with military honors will follow at Mountain View Cemetery, Shrewsbury. Memorial donations in his memory can be made either to the American Stroke Association or to the Salvation Army.