Torrey Kirby, Rest in Peace

[53k]

Torrey Kirby, long-time Studebaker owner and driver, SDC, AOAI, AACA, and other car clubs member, lost his battle with double pneumonia and a respiratory infection last night. He passed away peacefully with his wife Kaye at his side. Memorial services are pending and will be announced as soon as arrangements are complete.
Expressions of sympathy can be addressed to the Kirby family, 80 Kaiser Lane, Inwood, WV 25428.
A proper obituary will be posted to the Obituaries Forum when details are available.

[BobPalma]

Thank you, Paul.

Thankfully, Tolley didn't suffer too long, from the conditions you've described.

RIP, Torrey, and thanks for setting aside all those Studebakers. BP

[studefan]

Sorry to hear this news. A great Studebaker man. RIP Torrey.

[qsanford]

The Kirby Family and the Studebaker Family have suffered a great loss. RIP Torrey.

[Roscomacaw]

R I P Torrey.

[dnevin]

Sorry to hear that Paul. My thoughts to his family.

[LarkTruck]

May he rest in peace. Our heartfelt sympathy to his wife and family.
J & J Sinclair

[showbizkid]

Very sorry to hear this.

[avantilover]

Condolences from the Aussie Forum Mob.

[TENNESSEEHILLBILLY]

Torrey was a good man. Sorry to here of his passing.

[studelover]

I am so sorry to hear of the passing of Mr. Kirby. He was a great friend to me and the Studebaker family. I will miss him.

[loc8tor]

RIP Torrey, prayers going out for his family.......

[1962larksedan]

I'm not trying to be tacky here; I just hope that whomever winds up with Mr Kirby's cars, etc. cares for them. Why I say that is oftentimes when a person passes away; his/hers prides of joy frequently wind up with people who don't care or; worse, throw them away.

[53k]

I'm not trying to be tacky here; I just hope that whomever winds up with Mr Kirby's cars, etc. cares for them. Why I say that is oftentimes when a person passes away; his/hers prides of joy frequently wind up with people who don't care or; worse, throw them away.

Very true. In this case the family (daughter and son-in-law) want four vehicles- the diesel, the '63 Avanti, a Jeep pickup and the '66 Daytona that Torrey fixed up for her many years ago. I'm trying to talk them out of taking the Avanti as it has been sitting outdoors for a number of years without being run. They really can't afford to fix it up. The paint (white) is extremely chalky, chrome is rusty, interior is poor, the back shelf has fallen in to the trunk and the spare tire well is full of water. It is a R-1, a/t, p/s, manual windows, no a/c.
Unfortunately, all but a very few of the 100 cars having been sitting out for many years, have sunk in the mud and are really beyond being restorable. However, they are mostly complete with a lot of good parts and I hate to see them go to the scrappers. Two already have, a '59 Lark two-door and a '65 Commander four-door (not my doing). There are three Studebakers in the four-car garage (one stall is occupied by a '53 Nash Ambassador), a '64 Commander 4-door, six, three-speed stick (pretty decent), a '48 Champion 4-door that looks very nice and a '58 President Classic that has poor paint and pitted chrome, but looks to be very solid- a/t, radio and clock deletes, Twin Traction. It's so buried and filled with so much stuff that it is hard to tell much about it. These three will go on eBay as soon as I can dig them out and get the garage doors open (not a small problem).

[53k]

Torrey's obituary URL from the Martinsburg (WV) Journal- http://www.journal-news.net/page/con....html?nav=5007