C.K. Irby

Charles Kenneth Irby Sr. passed from this life on Saturday morning, Dec. 14, at 7 a.m., in the Russellville Hospital from complications of a heart attack. He was 78 years of age.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013, at 2 p.m. at Pinkard Funeral Home in Russellville, Ala., with the Rev. Chilton Busler officiating.
Burial will follow in Franklin Memory Gardens in Russellville. Visitation will be prior to the service from noon until 2 p.m. at the funeral home.
C.K., as he was known by friends and business associates, was born in Bastrop, La., on Aug. 9, 1935.
He was a graduate of Mississippi State University and played on the 1958 and 1959 MSU football team. He was a longtime member of the Elks Lodge 820 in Florence and was recently selected to the Mississippi Delta Community College Sports Hall of Fame, where he began his college football career.
CK's passions were business and helping those who needed help. He developed many multifamily projects, golf course, fitness center, the nursery business and also helping those with substance abuse issues.
Survivors include his children, Cindy Ann Pierce, of Lake Jackson, Texas, Ken Irby Jr., Florence, Ala., Sarah Beall, of Tuscumbia, Ala., Robert Irby, of Tuscumbia, Ala., and Leslie Chilton, of Greensboro, N.C.; sisters, JoAnn Hughes, Miami, Okla.; brothers, Emmett Irby and Dan Irby, both of Bastrop, La.; grandchildren, Kyle Pierce, Allison Pierce, Robert Beall, Brian Beall, Charles Kenneth Irby, Mary Kate Beall, Glenn Irby, Jack Irby, Madelyn Irby, Tyler Chilton and Drew Chilton; great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by parents, Lenoir and Maude Irby, sister, Doilene Akins.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Charles Kenneth Irby Endowed Scholarship in Education at Mississippi State University, PO Box 6149, MS. State, MS 39762, or A New Beginning, a sober living facility for women at 4100 Hatch Blvd. Sheffield, AL 35660, or a charity of your choice.
Condolences may be left at pinkardfh.com.