Frances Kirby

Frances Kirby, 82, passed away at her home, December 18, 2009. Born in Kentucky and reared in Alabama, she moved to Knoxville in the early 1940's. In 1949, she and her husband moved to Sevierville where they raised their children before moving to Cleveland in 1964. She was a loving mother and grandmother who treasured her family, loved gardening, cats, reading and painting. One of her greatest achievements was that she never taught her children the word “can’t” as she believed you can learn to do anything if you try and she passed this belief on to her children and grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of 42 years, Roger Kirby. She is survived and will be greatly missed by son and daughter-in-law Max and Juanita Kirby of Sevierville; daughter and son-in-law Sheila and Mark Bowman of Cleveland; grandchildren Bryan Kirby; Jeff Kirby and wife Tina, of Sevierville; Susan Casper of Cleveland; Terry Casper of Fort Collins, Colorado; and great-grandchildren Cody and Gabrielle Stovall of Cleveland. There will not be a funeral at this time as she donated her body to science through the University of Tennessee Anthropology Department. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Relay for Life in memory of Frances Kirby.