Margaret Clarke Kirk

Margaret Clarke Kirk (“Maggie”) died peacefully in her home at Croasdaile Village in Durham, North Carolina, on the morning of February 22, surrounded by the love she gave so willingly to her family, friends, caregivers, neighbors, and strangers during her 96 years of life on this earth. She was born on September 25, 1926, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Frank Clarke (born in Liverpool, England) and Georgia Durham Crane Clarke (born in Decatur, Georgia). During her childhood, the family moved from Louisville to Webster Groves, Missouri, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and to Greenwich, Connecticut, for her father’s job with Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. Maggie and her older sister Harriette, who she called “Happy,” spent many memorable childhood summers in Minnesota and in Florida, where her parents bought a home in Ponte Vedra Beach in the late 1930’s and later retired. Together, Maggie and Happy shared a life-long love of music, whether singing along to Ella Fitzgerald’s concert from the waves underneath the Jacksonville Pier, to harmonizing together over many years, to composing songs for the church and special family moments. Maggie also was an accomplished pianist who donated her Steinway Parlor Grand piano – a wedding present from her parents - to Croasdaile Village, where it continues to fill the air with beautiful music.

Maggie’s empathy and her call to service for others no doubt arose from the example of her mother, who had been sent from North Avenue Presbyterian Church in Atlanta as a missionary to Korea in the early part of the century, then worked as a nurse at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. During the Great Depression, men would come to the back door of their house in Webster Groves asking for a small job to make a little money. Even if there was no work to do, Maggie’s mother would never send them away without something to eat.

Maggie graduated from Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1948. Following graduation, she taught at Greenwich Country Day School and in Portsmouth, Virginia, before moving to Jacksonville, Florida, in the early 1950s. It was there she met and fell in love with Terrell Thomas Kirk, a young Presbyterian Minister. Maggie and Terrell were married July 31, 1954, in South Jacksonville Presbyterian Church, a marriage that lasted until his death in 2000. During that time, they raised three boys and lived in Jacksonville and Leesburg, Florida, while Terrell served in the Presbyterian Church. After he returned to Seminary at University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, they served in Episcopal churches in and Fort Lauderdale and St. Petersburg, Florida, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In 1968, they returned to Florida where Terrell served as Rector of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Dunedin, Florida, until his retirement in 1991.

Maggie shared in Terrell’s ministry both through the parishes he served but also through the schools attended by her boys and in the communities in which they lived. Notably, after moving to Dunedin in 1968, she taught at Dunedin Elementary School for several years and helped establish the Meals on Wheels program in Pinellas County, Florida, a program that continues to serve the elderly and homebound individuals with hot meals delivered to their home. She took great joy and pride in delivering not only meals, but joy and love to those served by the program.

Maggie loved family, travel, and adventure and shared her marvelous sense of humor and boundless optimism with everyone. Family camping trips in the North Carolina and Virginia Mountains, in the Maine woods, and in Florida brought happy memories, along with visits with her sister’s family in Connecticut and Terrell’s brother’s family in Virginia. Maggie loved to plan trips and, together with Terrell and (usually) some of their sons, traveled to nearly every state and much of Canada with either a tent camper or, later, an Airstream trailer in tow, stopping at National Parks and other beautiful spots along the way. With Terrell, she also traveled to the Holy Land, Britain, and much of Europe, filling books with photos and happy memories.

In 1999, Maggie and Terrell moved to Croasdaile Village in Durham, NC, where they were among the first residents of the new retirement community. They became members of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and Maggie began another chapter of giving back to the community, working as a volunteer at the Duke Gardens for several years, helping at St. Luke’s, and serving in many volunteer roles as a member of the Croasdaile Village Community. Following Terrell’s death in 2000, she continued her volunteer service as well as her love of travel, going to China and Alaska with a friend from Croasdaile, to the North Carolina Coast with Croasdaile friends, and to Las Vegas, Ireland, Holland, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, among other places, with her beloved sister and life-long companion Harriette.

In 2014, Maggie married Rev. Dr. Ed Bratcher, who had been an early Croasdaile Village resident along with his first wife and was a retired Baptist minister and professor. Maggie and Ed had a very special, sweet, loving relationship that lasted until Ed’s death in 2021, encouraging and living for each other every day and expanding the reach of her love to her “new” Bratcher family, especially Ed’s daughter Suzanne and his son Dick.

For the last several years, Maggie was enrolled in Duke Hospice but, due to her determination to continue living, had to be re-enrolled several times. The family is particularly grateful for the loving care provided by Hospice, especially her nurse, Violetta Kralka, who became a part of the family during Maggie’s final years, and to all those at Croasdaile who helped her, cared for her, and loved her over the years, in particular Kim Wright and Maggie’s very special friend Belinda Williams, who also became part of the family. The family is also grateful to LuVern Chavis, who was with Margaret in her final moments and who, together with her colleagues from Croasdaile Home Care, helped bring Maggie the comfort and dignity she deserved.

In addition to her parents and husbands, Maggie was preceded in death by her youngest son, Frank Wheeler Kirk, her niece, Margaret (Peggy) Thorne, and many other loved ones. Maggie is survived by her sister, Harriette Clarke Thorne, formerly of Darien, Connecticut, now residing in Swampscott, Massachusetts, and her beloved family: her older son Terrell T. Kirk, Jr. of Clearwater, Florida, along with his wife Mei-Hsiang and children Paul and Rowena Kirk; her son David C. Kirk, of Decatur, Georgia, along with his wife Lori Leland Kirk, and their daughters Elizabeth (Libby) and Caroline Kirk; her sister-in-law, Evelyn Kirk, of Croasdaile Village; many other nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, and cousins; and the extended Bratcher family. Her nephew Dr. Allan D. Kirk of Durham and his wife Robin were particularly kind, loving, and helpful to Margaret for many years. Likewise, Maggie got great joy out of several visits from her niece, Barbara Thorne, her husband Patrick Keziah, and their family. Maggie was a person who considered herself truly blessed to love and be loved by so many.

A memorial service will be held at a later date at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Dunedin, Florida. Those wishing to make gifts in Maggie’s memory are encouraged to consider St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Durham, the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, the Tampa Bay Network to End Hunger, the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, or a charity of their choice.

Rest eternal grant her, O Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon her.