Nancy Kirwan

News Obituary Article

ATLANTA: Nancy Kirwan, 60, Samaritan Center chief

By KIRSTEN TAGAMI

Nancy Kirwan combined the qualities of caring psychologist and savvy businesswoman as executive director of the Samaritan Counseling Center of Atlanta in Midtown.

She counseled troubled people and created support groups for cancer survivors, the homeless and others. She also saw an opportunity to build up the church-funded center by recruiting psychiatrists and psychologists who wanted to work part time --- either because they had small children or were semi-retired, said her husband, Bruce Kirwan.

Dr. Kirwan had worked less than full time after the birth of the Kirwans' son, Patrick, and knew there were other professionals who wanted the same reduced schedule, her husband said.

"She gathered the most wonderful psychologists and psychiatrists. She would be so happy when she got this person or that person," said her friend Wendy Murray of Atlanta.

Dr. Kirwan, 60, of Atlanta died Friday at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, Ala., from injuries she suffered in a one-car accident. She and her husband were traveling to Alabama to attend a pottery show when their Ford Explorer rolled over on the highway several times.

The memorial service is at 3 p.m. today at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.

Dr. Kirwan earned a master's in psychology from Georgia State University and a doctorate from the University of Miami. She worked in private practice before heading up the Samaritan Center, which is partially funded by the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, where it is located.

In her free time, Dr. Kirwan had a pottery business called Lillie Mae Ltd., named after a great-aunt. She had a kiln in her basement and made decorative plates, pottery and tea sets for grandmothers and their granddaughters to play with, said her husband. She often decorated her pottery with bright colors and angels.

"It was an outlet for her, and she got a great deal of joy from it. It was peace and quiet, away from other people's problems," said her husband.

Dr. Kirwan also was known for the Christmas cookie-painting parties she held in her Ansley Park home for many years, Ms. Murray said.

She would bake hundreds of cookies and let kids and adults paint them, then distribute them throughout the neighborhood.

Dr. Kirwan also liked to host elaborate gourmet birthday dinners for a few of her close friends, Ms. Murray said.

"It was her nature to be a caregiver. That's the way she was 24 hours a day," Ms. Murray said. "She was a natural, easygoing, down-to-earth and sweet person."

In addition to her husband, Dr. Kirwan is survived by a son, Patrick of Oxford, Ohio; and a sister, Mary Grisham of Houston.

© 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution