Samuel Newcomb Kirkland Jr.

Kirkland Samuel Newcomb, Jr., 93, passed away on Monday, November 11, 2024. Samuel was born on April 11, 1931, in Rome, NY. He was preceded in death by his parents, Samuel N. Kirkland and Dorothy Reed Kirkland; and four siblings, Joan B. McMonagle, Sally D. Osta, James R. Kirkland and Peter S. Kirkland. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Thelma Winslow Kirkland; two children, Samuel N. Kirkland III and wife, Michelle McGinnis Kirkland, and Eric Brantley Kirkland and wife, Kimberly Lynn Kirkland; two grandchildren, Tyler Winslow Kirkland and Shannon Lynn Kirkland; and many nieces and nephews.

 His early years were spent in Rome, NY, where he started working with his grandfather as a survey rodman at the early age of 10. He was a cub and boy scout, a paper boy, and a theater usher prior to his joining the Navy in 1950. He served in Air Anti-Submarine Squadron VS22 aboard six escort aircraft carriers, USS Block Island II, USS Kula Gulf, USS Salerno Bay, USS Siboney, USS Mindoro, and USS Palau, hunting down and tracking Russian submarines. He sailed the North and South Atlantic and the Caribbean, with ports of call in the US, Europe, South America and the Islands of the Caribbean. He was an aircraft mechanic and crew chief on the Grumman TBM Avenger, and Grumman AF 2S Guardian, torpedo attack aircraft. He was the squadron historian, keeping track of Squadron members from 1945 thru 1956. After the Korean War he was a hydrographic and topographic survey crew member and cartographic draftsman with the Norfolk District Corps of Engineers, followed by employment with Marcellus Wright Architects, Ocean View, VA office. He then was employed at Fort Lee, VA in several drafting and plans and programming capacities. He retired in 1986 after 14 years as Deputy Housing Chief, with 35 years of combined government employment.

 He was a member of second Presbyterian Church, in Petersburg, Powhatan Starke Lodge 124, and Petersburg Lodge 15, AF&AM and the Richmond Scottish Rite. He was an avid Ham radio operator for more than 35 years, making radio contacts with almost every place in the world and using the call of AA4ZK. He loved automobiles and had been involved in building hotrods, custom cars and race cars. His favorite poem was The Cremation of Sam McGee and The Navy Hymn would always bring moisture to his eyes.

 A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, December 7, 2024 at Second Presbyterian Church 419 West Washington Street Petersburg, Virginia 23803. Interment will be private. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Colonial Heights Chapel of E. Alvin Small Funeral Homes and Crematory, 2033 Boulevard. Online condolences may be registered at www.ealvinsmall.com.