John Richard Kirkland

River Bend, N.C. - John Richard Kirkland, mayor of the Town of River Bend for the past 20 years, died unexpectedly Sept. 28, 2024. He was 92 years old.

John was a native of Oil City, Pa. A graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy, he was a member of the class of 1954. He retired at the rank of Captain after 34 years of service. His assignment to command of the LORAN station in Matsumae, Japan was one of his most memorable duties, as was his assignment as Captain of the Port of Philadelphia.

Following his retirement from the Coast Guard, John went on to work for the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation as the environmental resource manager for 11 years.

John and his late wife, Grace, moved to River Bend, N.C. in 1995. In his nearly 30 years there, in addition to his terms on the council and as mayor, he made numerous contributions to organizations in eastern North Carolina. He was a member and former president of the New Bern Rotary, a volunteer for and board member of Religious Community Services, a board member and grant chair of the Craven County Community Foundation, and in the Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla. He served on the New Bern Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Highway 17 Association, and the Coastal Environmental Partnership. He also served the State of North Carolina on the Building Commission from 2006 until 2009.

John joined Garber Global Methodist Church upon arriving in River Bend, and for many years drove a van for children participating in the Kingswood after-school program. He spoke of Garber as the best church that he had ever attended. He was devoted to the men's Bible study group.

John married Grace Helen Caulk in June of 1956 in Norfolk, Va., where he was stationed at the time. She predeceased him in 2011. He is survived by their five children, Claire Newsome (David) of River Bend, N.C., John Kirkland (Luci) of Las Cruces, New Mexico, Suzanne Seals (Kevin) of Spokane, Washington, Joanne Yamada (Tad) of Rockville, Md., and Tom Kirkland (Jessica) of Longmont, Colo. He also has nine grandchildren, Elizabeth, Sarah, Sam, John Luis, Cody, Max, Jake, Ben and Nate; and five great-grandchildren, Yui, Ren, Chloe, Aiden and Arlo.

A funeral service to honor John will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at Garber Global Methodist Church. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA with full Military Honors at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Religious Community Services or to the Craven County Community Foundation.

Cotten Funeral Home & Crematory is honored to serve the family and friends of John Richard Kirkland.