Lawrence F. Kirby

Born to Lawrence Francis "Darby" and Sarah (McCool) Kirby on June 21, 1924, Lawrence F. Kirby of Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA, passed away in his sleep August 13, 2023, following a brief illness.
Raised with his beloved "sibs" in Brookline, Larry is survived by two of them: Eddie and Alice. He lost his sisters Mary Donnelly and Joan Sullivan in recent years. Across decades, the group convened regularly for "sibs weekends" in scenic New England towns.
Larry served in World War II in the United States Marine Corps as a combat reconnaissance scout, aund participated in amphibious assaults on Bougainville, Guam, and Iwo Jima. In the fierce fighting on Guam, he was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart. On Iwo Jima he was one of seven men out of 230 marines to survive the battle. After recovering for some months stateside, he gave his mother a happy surprise by arriving back home to Brookline on Christmas Eve in 1945.
Soon after, he met the beautiful, smart, and kind-hearted Mary Crane, who was studying at Emerson College. They eloped, married in Manhattan, started a family that grew to include Lawrence Francis II, Christine Mercer, Theodore John, and Alan Crane Kirby. They were raised on Summer Street in Manchester, in a house next to the one where Mary was born and with siblings of Mary's living on both sides.
A beneficiary of the GI Bill, Larry took courses from 1948 to 1952 at Northeastern University, including in the Law School, while working to support his family. Later he would join Shaw-Walker, the office furniture company, where he worked for nineteen years.
Years after his service, Larry found it therapeutic to write about his memories of the war. The result was Stories from the Pacific, a collection of remembered events, some humorous and others dealing with the horror of close combat. Thousands of people have since read the book and many reached out to become new friends. Larry's gift for storytelling also served him well in gatherings of veterans where he was invited to speak, including the annual Iwo Jima Day remembrance at the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill. Often interviewed and featured in the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, WBZ News, and other media, Larry was quick to remind people that "family is everything, and love is the most valuable thing".
While Manchester-by-the-Sea was his in-laws' town, he loved it from the start. He was active in Lion's Club, of which he was president of the local chapter for several years, and served on many Manchester-by-Sea committees and boards. He actively participated in the North Shore political scene and was a driving force behind the annual Red, White, and Blue Breakfast. In many ways, he also supported Mary's volunteer efforts and philanthropy.
The couple entertained often and traveled widely, even returning to Guam to visit Mary's niece. Most of all they loved and took pride in their grandchildren, starting with Christine's daughter, Kate. (In 2011, Larry took an online course to be ordained a minister so that he could officiate at her wedding to Matt Ellis.) Christine's stepsons, Jeff and Kevin, Ted's children Michael, Shawn, and Alyson, and Alan's children, David, Jane, and Ted, will miss him greatly, as will his great-grandchildren Caroline, Tyler, Kirby, Cameron, Catherine, Cassius, Marine, Liam, Seamus, and Sam-and his many nieces and nephews.
Larry often said that the luckiest day of his life was when he met Mary, and she often thanked him for making her laugh every day. She predeceased him by a matter of months, leaving him to mark alone their wedding anniversary in the spring. May they be reunited now in endless joy and peace.
A celebration of Larry's life will be held at the First Parish Church Congregational on Saturday, September 30th at 11 AM with refreshments to follow in the Chapel. Burial will be private.