IRVINGTON—Margaret Sadler “Mickey” Kirby, 99, of Irvington passed away peacefully on Thursday, August 15, 2024. Mickey was born on June 25, 1925, in Charlotte, N.C., to Carl C. and Frances (Lay) Sadler.
During the Depression, her mother took Mickey and her two sisters, Laurie and Isabel, to live with their maternal grandparents in Oil City, Pa. Her father, a civil engineer for the U.S. Government, was constructing a dam in South Carolina. After the Depression, the family was able to reunite in Arlington, while Mickey’s father worked constructing the George Washington Parkway and Memorial Bridge.
Mickey attended Washington-Lee High School. It was there that she met Elgin B. Kirby (Class of 1942) when she (Class of 1943) was in 10th grade and he in the 11th grade. They didn’t form a close relationship until Elgin had graduated, joined the Army Air Corps and was stationed on Saipan during World War II. By then Mickey was attending Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg. She was writing letters to several classmates serving overseas including Elgin. They fell in love through those letters. They had their first date after the war ended and Elgin returned to Arlington in January 1946.
Mickey and Elgin married on August 16, 1947. Elgin began working at his father’s car dealership, Kirby’s Dodge in Clarendon. Elgin took over the dealership when his father passed away. They raised their three daughters with much love, laughter, music and traveling. The month of August was always spent at the family cottage at Rockmere on the Allegheny River outside of Oil City, a place they all loved.
Elgin sold the dealership and retired in 1981. Mickey and Elgin played golf and traveled extensively, making lifelong friends at many destinations. In 1987, they bought a “weekend getaway” home in Weems. They bought in this area because their good friends Gordon and Vivian Graham had moved there. By 1995, Weems had become their full-time home and they sold the house in Arlington.
Mickey was vibrant, athletic, fun, honest, patriotic, optimistic, religious, sentimental, beautiful and very loving. She loved to play golf and tennis, swim, exercise, needlepoint and knit. She was an excellent cook – complicated recipes didn’t intimidate her. The superlative under her picture in her high school yearbook read, “Every boy’s dream of the girl-next-door.”
Mickey is preceded in death by her husband, her parents; and her sisters, Laura Ann Miller and Isabel Plavidal.
She is survived by her three daughters, Janice Kenna of Fairfax, Cindy Gibson (Greg) of Arlington and Adele Soulé of Kilmarnock; two grandchildren, Michael Gibson (Jen) of Falls Church and Lisa Stewart (Corey) of Alexandria; four great-grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.
The family would like to thank the staff at Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury for their kind and loving care. A private graveside service will precede the memorial service at noon Saturday, November 2, at Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury. A reception will follow.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Oil City Boat Club, PO Box 218, Oil City, PA 16301.
