Submitted by: Dan Rich

 

Betty C. Kirk

Jan. 31, 1932 - Dec. 21, 2003

 

South Bend Tribune 12/23/2003

MISHAWAKA - Betty C Kirk, 71 years old, loving wife, mother and grandmother of Marion Street in Mishawaka, IN., passed away at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 21, in her home surrounded by her loving husband and family. Betty was born Jan. 31, 1932, in Mercer, Tenn., to the union of Gracie Wilson and Jacob L. Frye. In Corinth, Miss., on Oct. 18, 1947, she was married to Howard R. Kirk, who survives. They were married for 56 years. She is also survived by her children: two sons, Gary Kirk of Mishawaka and Gregory (Lani) Kirk of Elkhart; and two daughters, Sheila (Ben) Leal of South Bend and Glenda (Bob) Goins of Mishawaka. Also surviving are eight grandchildren, Laura Kirk, Mary Kirk, Greg and Jamie Kirk, Amanda and Samantha Leal, Chad and Emily Picking; and three step-grandchildren, Brenda (Jerry) Harding, Freddie (Stacie) Leal and John Brian Leal. Betty was one of eleven children and is survived by her twin brother, Billy D. Frye, and three sisters, Shirley Collins, Linda Dunaway and Joyce Lott, all of Tennessee. She was preceded in death by her mother and father, and five brothers and one sister.

 

Visitation will be held at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home, McKinley Highway in Osceola, IN., today, Dec. 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral services will take place Dec. 24 at Chapel Hill at 2 p.m. There will be one hour of visitation prior to the services. Betty's nephew, Steve Frye from Searcy, Ark., will conduct the services. Burial will follow in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens. Betty worked twenty years alongside her husband Howard in the business they owned in Mishawaka, Unique Seating. Betty suffered with Alzheimer's disease for ten years and was lovingly taken care of in her home by her husband Howard. She attended the Church of Christ. Donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association of Northern Indiana. There was never a more loved or loving wife, mother and grandmother. She will be forever loved and missed by her family and friends.