RALPH ALLEN KIRKPATRICK Kirk, passed away at the age of 80, surrounded by his wife and daughters at his home in Hawaii Kai on December 12, 2018. Born in Honolulu, Ralph grew up on the North Shore, from Kahuku to Waialua to Haleiwa. He attended Punahou High School, where he lived in the dormitories and graduated in 1956. On the weekends, he returned to the North Shore to hunt, fish, surf, and cliff dive at Waimea falls. in the summers, he worked in the pineapple fields, and progressed to the Dole Cannery where he developed a deep revulsion for the smell and taste of pineapple. He attended University of Arizona, graduating with a Bachelor of Science where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. During his college years, he worked in the North Rim Grand Canyon Lodge, where he was mentored by the head butcher and cook who taught him his knife skills and cooking finesse. An adventurous spirit and thrill seeker, Ralph enjoyed skydiving, freefalling out of biplanes, fly fishing and camping. There's some Hollywood country western stunt footage out there somewhere of him diving off a 50-foot cliff. He developed a real love for the Southwest during this time of his life. After college, he worked briefly at the Tucson Police Academy and eventually joined the Hawaii National Guard, which brought him back to Honolulu. He was employed selling farm and ranching supplies by Albers Milling Company, where he got to know ranchers and farmers throughout the islands. The only ranch he did not get to was on Niihau. In 1968, he met his wife of forty-seven years, Judith O'Reilly, whom he tracked down after meeting her at a party when she was working and living at Kamehameha schools. Ralph changed careers in 1968 to Pharmaceutical Sales, where he visited doctors instead of ranchers and enjoyed a 38-year career with GlaxoSmithKline, ending up as a district sales manager. Since his retirement, Ralph spent the last decade traveling internationally, pursuing his eccentric hobbies and settling in to his chosen uniform of custom tailored jeans shorts and 30-year line-dried old tank tops. He loved Black Labrador Retrievers, fly fishing, racing homing pigeons, drinking single malt scotch, collecting, sharpening, and using REAL (vs. stainless) steel knives, listening to good Hawaiian slack-key music, grinding his own grain to brew his own beer, making his own bullets for his shooting hobby, PBS Newshour, nature documentaries, Tan Tan ramen, poke, Iso peanuts, mango chutney, Pho, Thai food, reading about animals, and breaking out the projector to show slides of his travels. He was that guy opening stinky bags of cuttlefish in the middle of Varsity Theater and driving 5 miles under the speed limit on the H-1, always with bags of cracked seed to accompany his ride. He was an avid reader and learner and a truly generous spirit. A great father, husband, hanai Dad and "Uncle Kirk" to many, Ralph will be missed tremendously. "A hui hou." Survived by Ralph are his wife, Judith O'Reilly Kirkpatrick; daughters, Tara and Devon (spouse Jane McCarthy) and granddaughter Davis Jean; siblings: Mead Kirkpatrick and Janet Chamberland; niece Sharon Kirkpatrick; nephew John Kirkpatrick; hanai daughters: Wendy Kaleiwahea and Courtney Robinson, and his beloved black labs Nani and Ele'ele. He was preceded in death by parents Beatrice Mead Kirkpatrick and Severnius Anthony "Kirk" Kirkpatrick and son, Stephen Kirkpatrick.
RALPH ALLEN KIRKPATRICK Kirk, passed away at the age of 80, surrounded by his wife and daughters at his home in Hawaii Kai on December 12, 2018. Born in Honolulu, Ralph grew up on the North Shore, from Kahuku to Waialua to Haleiwa. He attended Punahou High School, where he lived in the dormitories and graduated in 1956. On the weekends, he returned to the North Shore to hunt, fish, surf, and cliff dive at Waimea falls. in the summers, he worked in the pineapple fields, and progressed to the Dole Cannery where he developed a deep revulsion for the smell and taste of pineapple. He attended University of Arizona, graduating with a Bachelor of Science where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. During his college years, he worked in the North Rim Grand Canyon Lodge, where he was mentored by the head butcher and cook who taught him his knife skills and cooking finesse. An adventurous spirit and thrill seeker, Ralph enjoyed skydiving, freefalling out of biplanes, fly fishing and camping. There's some Hollywood country western stunt footage out there somewhere of him diving off a 50-foot cliff. He developed a real love for the Southwest during this time of his life. After college, he worked briefly at the Tucson Police Academy and eventually joined the Hawaii National Guard, which brought him back to Honolulu. He was employed selling farm and ranching supplies by Albers Milling Company, where he got to know ranchers and farmers throughout the islands. The only ranch he did not get to was on Niihau. In 1968, he met his wife of forty-seven years, Judith O'Reilly, whom he tracked down after meeting her at a party when she was working and living at Kamehameha schools. Ralph changed careers in 1968 to Pharmaceutical Sales, where he visited doctors instead of ranchers and enjoyed a 38-year career with GlaxoSmithKline, ending up as a district sales manager. Since his retirement, Ralph spent the last decade traveling internationally, pursuing his eccentric hobbies and settling in to his chosen uniform of custom tailored jeans shorts and 30-year line-dried old tank tops. He loved Black Labrador Retrievers, fly fishing, racing homing pigeons, drinking single malt scotch, collecting, sharpening, and using REAL (vs. stainless) steel knives, listening to good Hawaiian slack-key music, grinding his own grain to brew his own beer, making his own bullets for his shooting hobby, PBS Newshour, nature documentaries, Tan Tan ramen, poke, Iso peanuts, mango chutney, Pho, Thai food, reading about animals, and breaking out the projector to show slides of his travels. He was that guy opening stinky bags of cuttlefish in the middle of Varsity Theater and driving 5 miles under the speed limit on the H-1, always with bags of cracked seed to accompany his ride. He was an avid reader and learner and a truly generous spirit. A great father, husband, hanai Dad and "Uncle Kirk" to many, Ralph will be missed tremendously. "A hui hou." Survived by Ralph are his wife, Judith O'Reilly Kirkpatrick; daughters, Tara and Devon (spouse Jane McCarthy) and granddaughter Davis Jean; siblings: Mead Kirkpatrick and Janet Chamberland; niece Sharon Kirkpatrick; nephew John Kirkpatrick; hanai daughters: Wendy Kaleiwahea and Courtney Robinson, and his beloved black labs Nani and Ele'ele. He was preceded in death by parents Beatrice Mead Kirkpatrick and Severnius Anthony "Kirk" Kirkpatrick and son, Stephen Kirkpatrick.
Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased
