Evelyn Irene Beard Kirk

Evelyn Irene Beard Kirk passed peacefully at the Croasdaile Village retirement home in Durham, North Carolina, on October 24, 2025, at the age of 90. She was born in Hot Springs, Virginia, to Walter and Wilma Beard and raised by Lola Tuke. She graduated from Valley High School and Bridgewater College before embarking on a career as an elementary school teacher. She married Paul Wheeler Kirk, Jr. in 1958, taught in Richmond, Virginia, and Durham, North Carolina, and ultimately settled in Virginia Beach, Virginia. There she raised two children and taught fourth grade at Arrowhead Elementary School until her retirement. She was named a Teacher of the Year in the Virginia Beach Public School System. She was preceded in death by her husband, Paul, in 2013, and thereafter moved to Durham. She is survived by her children, Allan Douglas Kirk and Susan Heather Kirk Van Schenck, and by four grandchildren. Evelyn was known for her kind and calm demeanor, which she conveyed to her students and to all those who knew her. Indeed, most people who met her described her as the nicest person they had ever met. Her devotion to her family, as a spouse, a mother, and a grandmother, was always quietly evident. She will be interred next to Paul in a private ceremony at the Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church Cemetery.