Muriel Kirby

Muriel Kirby CHESAPEAKE - Muriel (Brandt) Kirby, 89, passed away Sept. 1, 2008, in Chesapeake, after a long illness. She was born in New York City on June 3, 1919, the first of three children of Edith and Frederic Rosenburg. Muriel was a devoted wife and a loving and proud mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She married Robert Gordon Kirby in 1944. They had two children, Robert Brandt Kirby and Susan Ellen (Kirby) Lee. Muriel and her family moved from New York to Hot Springs, Ark., where she worked as an administrative assistant to the school principal at Lakeside High School and raised her family. In 1978, she and her husband moved to Houston, Texas, where they eventually retired. Following the loss of her husband, Muriel moved to Horse Shoe, N.C., in 1995, to be close to her daughter and finally to Chesapeake in 2007. Muriel is survived by her daughter, Susan (Kirby) Lee of Chesapeake and her son, Robert B. Kirby and his wife Pamela E. Kirby of Winter Park, Fla. Muriel also is survived by three grandchildren, Matthew B. Downs and his wife Amanda Downs of Cornelius, N.C., Georgia (Downs) Goppert and her husband Mark Goppert of Henderson, Nev., and Lisa E. Kirby of Boston; and great-grandchildren, Gabrielle Goppert and Kailey Goppert of Henderson. Muriel's ashes will be scattered at sea in a private family ceremony to join those of her husband, a retired Exxon ship captain. In lieu of flowers, please pray for her joy as she is held in His arms.