Mr. Robert Donald "Bob" Kirby, a resident of Country Club Road near Somerville and retired warehouse manager in Bartlett, died Tuesday morning, June 29, 2004, in the emergency room of the Methodist Healthcare of Fayette in Somerville where he was taken after becoming ill at his home earlier in the morning. He was 79 years of age and died following an extended illness.

Funeral services were conducted at 11 A.M. Friday, July 2nd at the Peebles Funeral Chapel in Somerville with The Rev. Dr. Katherine Ryan of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Somerville, officiating. Special remarks were given by a granddaughter, Sarah Dobbins. Interment was in the Fayette County Memorial Park Cemetery on Hwy. 64. Peebles Fayette County Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Kirby was born September 23, 1924, in Ripley, Tennessee, the son of the late James Edward Vernon Kirby and the late Irene Rush Kirby. He was educated in the Lauderdale County, Tennessee public school system and moved to the Memphis area at a young age. Mr. Kirby served in the United States Navy during the World War II period as a Seaman, First Class and was the recipient of the Victory Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Medal and the American Theatre Medal. He was married December 18, 1947, to the former Marianne Williamson Kirby, who survives.

Mr. Kirby was a resident of the Memphis area before moving to Somerville fifteen years ago and was a member of the St. Thomas Episcopal Church at the time of his death. He was employed as a warehouse manager and buyer for the M.C. White Construction Company in Bartlett for a number of years before his retirement. Mr. Kirby enjoyed out-of-door activities and nature as long as health permitted. Vegetable gardening, fishing and woodworking were favorite pastimes. He will be remembered by his family and friends as a story teller who enjoyed feeding the many hummingbirds that frequented his home on Country Club Drive each year.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Kirby is survived by his daughter, Loisanne Kirby Dobbins of Arlington, Tennessee; four sons, Robert "Ken" Kirby of Somerville, James Edward "Jimmy" Kirby of Vicksburg, Mississippi, David Russell "Rusty" Kirby of Mesa, Arizona, Donald Stephen "Donnie" Kirby of Memphis; eleven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Casketbearers were Dickie Brewer, Stephen Brewer, Laurence Dobbins, Dillon Kirby, Stephen Kirby and Pete Williams.

The family request that memorials be directed to the charity or organization of the donor's choice.