We celebrate the life of Wanda June Stark Kirkpatrick, who died peacefully in her sleep on Dec. 29, 2025, at the age of 92, in Greensboro, NC.
Wanda was born in 1933 in Hobart, OK to Junia and Viola Stark. After moving to Nebraska and California, the family settled in Texas, where Wanda was a Majorette and Homecoming Sweetheart at Handley High School in Ft. Worth. It was there she met Milton William (Bill) Kirkpatrick, Jr., and the couple married on Aug. 16, 1952.
Wanda helped put Bill through law school (including typing his papers for him). When he joined the U.S. Navy, she accompanied him to assignments in Colorado, Florida, Texas, and Virginia; along the way they had four children who always, ALWAYS knew they were loved. In the early 1970s they were posted to Keflavik, Iceland, where Wanda was awarded Navy Wife of the Year. After one more short-term assignment to Millington, TN, they finally settled in Fairfax, VA, in 1974. After Bill's retirement from the Navy, they ran a law office together out of their home, which she later turned into a successful sideline as a Notary Public.
Wanda was especially active in the Scouting program, serving as troop leader for the Girl Scouts, den mother for the Cub Scouts, day camp leader for summer day camps, and various other positions, including a range of volunteer positions at the district and council levels of the Boy Scouts. For her work, she was awarded the prestigious Silver Beaver award, one of the highest awards given by the BSA.
She was also an enthusiastic supporter of her children's activities: vigorously fund-raising for the Fairfax High School band, sewing uniforms for the high school's drill team, and more. She made countless memorable Halloween costumes by hand. She also served on numerous committees at Oakton United Methodist Church and helped out in the community as a poll worker and in other capacities. She was an expert cake decorator, a skilled calligrapher, a proficient seamstress, and an enthusiastic crafter, which made her in demand for everything from inscribing confirmation certificates for her church, to creating the wedding cakes for her kids' and grandkids' weddings and birthdays, to organizing fundraising craft bazaars for different causes.
She loved Christmas decorating (and Christmas shopping), entertaining (including throwing annual St. Patrick's Day parties), and driving a little too fast (she was an incorrigible tailgater). She loved to tease (her kids were always her "brats"), did a wonderful Tweety Bird impression, did not much care for cooking, looked great in red (with her beautiful silver hair), and was always game to travel wherever her children wanted to take her.
Wanda and Bill made their home a safe and welcoming space for kids, the kind of place where you could always bring a friend home for dinner or, if they were in need, for a place to stay. As we reflect on her life, what perhaps stands out the most is her boundless love for her children (and the people they love), as well as her commitment to making life better for all children through her community service and her expansive understanding of "family."
She is survived by her four children and their spouses-Kathy Kirkpatrick and Penny Johnson, Kelly O'Brien, Karen Kirkpatrick, and Bill Kirkpatrick (III) and Anna Nekola-as well as fourteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She will be buried with her husband (who passed away in 2009) in Arlington cemetery in a private ceremony.
IN LIEU OF FLOWERS OR A TREE, please consider a donation to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund or the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.
Wanda was born in 1933 in Hobart, OK to Junia and Viola Stark. After moving to Nebraska and California, the family settled in Texas, where Wanda was a Majorette and Homecoming Sweetheart at Handley High School in Ft. Worth. It was there she met Milton William (Bill) Kirkpatrick, Jr., and the couple married on Aug. 16, 1952.
Wanda helped put Bill through law school (including typing his papers for him). When he joined the U.S. Navy, she accompanied him to assignments in Colorado, Florida, Texas, and Virginia; along the way they had four children who always, ALWAYS knew they were loved. In the early 1970s they were posted to Keflavik, Iceland, where Wanda was awarded Navy Wife of the Year. After one more short-term assignment to Millington, TN, they finally settled in Fairfax, VA, in 1974. After Bill's retirement from the Navy, they ran a law office together out of their home, which she later turned into a successful sideline as a Notary Public.
Wanda was especially active in the Scouting program, serving as troop leader for the Girl Scouts, den mother for the Cub Scouts, day camp leader for summer day camps, and various other positions, including a range of volunteer positions at the district and council levels of the Boy Scouts. For her work, she was awarded the prestigious Silver Beaver award, one of the highest awards given by the BSA.
She was also an enthusiastic supporter of her children's activities: vigorously fund-raising for the Fairfax High School band, sewing uniforms for the high school's drill team, and more. She made countless memorable Halloween costumes by hand. She also served on numerous committees at Oakton United Methodist Church and helped out in the community as a poll worker and in other capacities. She was an expert cake decorator, a skilled calligrapher, a proficient seamstress, and an enthusiastic crafter, which made her in demand for everything from inscribing confirmation certificates for her church, to creating the wedding cakes for her kids' and grandkids' weddings and birthdays, to organizing fundraising craft bazaars for different causes.
She loved Christmas decorating (and Christmas shopping), entertaining (including throwing annual St. Patrick's Day parties), and driving a little too fast (she was an incorrigible tailgater). She loved to tease (her kids were always her "brats"), did a wonderful Tweety Bird impression, did not much care for cooking, looked great in red (with her beautiful silver hair), and was always game to travel wherever her children wanted to take her.
Wanda and Bill made their home a safe and welcoming space for kids, the kind of place where you could always bring a friend home for dinner or, if they were in need, for a place to stay. As we reflect on her life, what perhaps stands out the most is her boundless love for her children (and the people they love), as well as her commitment to making life better for all children through her community service and her expansive understanding of "family."
She is survived by her four children and their spouses-Kathy Kirkpatrick and Penny Johnson, Kelly O'Brien, Karen Kirkpatrick, and Bill Kirkpatrick (III) and Anna Nekola-as well as fourteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She will be buried with her husband (who passed away in 2009) in Arlington cemetery in a private ceremony.
IN LIEU OF FLOWERS OR A TREE, please consider a donation to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund or the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Wanda June Kirkpatrick, please visit our flower store.
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