Obituary of Keith Kirkham
With great sadness, our family announces the passing of our darling Samuel Keith Kirkham on Tuesday evening at 8:30 P.M. Not long before his death, God placed a rainbow in the St. Catharines sky to give us comfort and joy. Mourning his loss are his beloved wife, Eileen McAuliffe, his children, Andrew and his fiancée Kathleen Cowie, Mary-Elizabeth and her husband Steve Laverdiere, Keith’s two sisters, Vicki Brunskill (the late Kent Brunskill) and Heather, and his brother, Dan his wife Fran.
Keith was born on December 18, 1951 to Samuel and Helen Kirkham in Yorkton, Saskatchewan and lived on the family seed farm in Saltcoats. Keith became an electrical engineer working in the paper mill industry working in Kenora, Ontario, Ottawa, British Columbia, Lagos, Nigeria and Montreal and Toronto. In 1984, Keith travelled to Switzerland to get his MBA. It was there that he met his good friends Stuart McKenzie and Christine who led Keith to his wife Eileen in 1985. We were married shortly after meeting and Andrew Samuel and Mary-Elizabeth joined the family in 1987 and 1988. We lived in Kenora for 13 years before moving to Southern Ontario in 2003.
Keith had many interests and hobbies. Keith discovered mid-life that he was an artist, first working on beautiful stained glass, later moving on to carving and finally woodburning. His creations were stunning, his otters and his bearded dragon were amazing. He dabbled in remote control airplanes and model trains. He had an affection for travel videos and food reviews on youtube and he lived for his space videos with Felix on Tuesdays and Friday. He loved music and anything interesting. He was brilliant and he read incessantly until this past year.
Most wonderful about Keith was his gift of humour. He loved to make people laugh and his wit was lightening quick. If you knew Keith, you laughed. He knew no boundaries for humour and he loved to stun you with terribly corny puns. He was truly a master.
He loved fiercely and unconditionally and forever. He loved his mother and father and was so proud of his sister Vicki and his brother-in-law Kent and was so grateful for long chats with his sister Heather. He loved his brother Dan and his sister-in-law Fran and they shared a deep love of music. His friends were longterm and genuine. He was quiet and deep. His love for his wife and his children was plain for all to see. Nothing made him more proud than his family. He will never be missed because he will always burn deeply in our hearts and we will laugh heartily at every remembered silly joke. Rest now my darling.
To join us for Keith's Mass, please go to www.starofthesea.ca Clickmore at the top of the page. Click the link tab (2nd tab) and that will take you to Star of the Sea's You Tube channel and you will be able to view the Funeral Mass.