Individual Details
Myron Sanford Kirkpatrick
(4 Jun 1901 - 8 Mar 1982)
Myron Sandford Kirkpatrick was born 4 Jun 1901 at Tecumseh, Johnson County, Nebraska, the youngest child of William Wilberforce and Laura Zeella (Dodge) Kirkpatrick. In 1906 his family moved to a farm a few miles from Tecumseh and in 1910, they moved to Smartsville (now St. Mary), Johnson County, Nebraska, where his father ran a grain elevator. Since most of the town was Catholic and presumably all of the children went to parochial school, Myron was one of only three students in the public grade school there.
In 1914 or 1915 the family moved again, this time to Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa. Here Myron continued to go to school until age 15 when he quit to work on the farm his father had bought a few miles from Keokuk. In 1918, when he was 17 years old, he went to Seattle, King County, Washington, where he worked in a shipyard until the end of World War I, and then returned to Keokuk. He resumed working on the farm for his father until 1921 when his older brother Weaver, who was a railroad detective for the Rock Island Railroad persuaded him to go to work as a detective. He was a detective for the Rock Island for four years rising from a Patrolman to Sergeant to Lieutenant. During that time he had several unusual experiences, one of which, as he tells it, "...consisted of (a) shooting scrape with three train robbers at San Koty siding (near Peoria) who were robbing liquor shipments (during Prohibition). I shot one of them through the shoulder, but the others got away though we got them later. Later I broke up a band of three pick-pockets working the trains out of Chicago, and (had) another shooting experience with train robbers out of Joliet who all got away."
On 7 September 1925 he married in Fort Madison, Lee County, Iowa, Alice Elizabeth ("Betty") McBlain, daughter of the Rev. Alexander R. and Alice E. (Rhine) McBlain. Betty was born 2 June 1905 in Kilduff, Jasper County, Iowa. About this time he left the railroad and began work as an insurance agent for Wisconsin National Life Insurance Company. Myron was to remain with Wisconsin Life for the remainder of his career until retirement in 1967, first as General Agent, then as State Field Supervisor for Illinois, and finally in 1929, as State Superintendant for Michigan, in which capacity he organized the state of Michigan for his company, building an agency force of 100 agents. After moving to Michigan he made his home in Grand Rapids.
On 4 February 1936 he was staying in the Hotel Kerns in Lansing, Michigan when he was awakened by a yell of "Fire!". In Myron's own words:
"I woke up and found the smell of smoke in the room and when I jumped up and looked out the window, dozens of heads were poking out, all yelling 'Help!...', but I could see we had to save ourselves. I was on the fourth floor and I found the hall ablaze so I knew we had to go out the window...so I started tying bedsheets together...I took the bedspread and tied it to the steel radiator inside and made up my mind I would grab the mattress and jump with it if the flames got into my room before I had the sheets tied to this spread.
"I took another look out the window and yelled to the man next to me "Use your sheets", but all he did was yell for help that wasn't coming. I saw a ladder put up to the third floor below me on the room to my left and as I started to tie the sheets to the spread, the flames burst into my room and I didn't wait for the sheets, I went down that spread, swung over to my left and could just reach the top of that ladder on the floor below and I went on down to the ground...I had thrown my clothes out and I found my coat and had but no pants or shoes but we people who had go out were busy dragging out the unconscious people who had jumped, into the hotel across the street...40 people burned up that night with a large number injured."
Myron was very proud of being a close personal friend of President Gerald Ford. The friendship dated from the early 1950's when Ford, then a young congressman, and Myron were neighbors in Grand Rapids. Even after Ford became President, they continued to exchange letters, and according to Myron, it was always "Kirk" and "Jerry" in their correspondence.
There were two (2) children born of the marriage.
Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids, Michigan, March 8, 1982, Page 9 D: Myron S. Kirkpatrick, aged 80, passed away Monday morning at Blodgett Hospital. Surviving are his wife, Alice; a daughter, Dr. Diane Kirkpatrick of Ann Arbor; a son, Rev. Bruce Kirkpatrick of Port Huron; three grandchildren, Ann, Joel and JoAnna Kirkpatrick; two sisters, Mrs. Carrie Donnelly of Iowa, and Mrs. Florence Williams of Missouri; several nieces and nephews, including David Kirkpatrick of Grand Rapids. Funeral announcements later. Memorials to Trinity United Methodist Church will be appreciated. Arrangements by the Metcalf & Jonkhoff Funeral Home, 933 Cherry SE.
In 1914 or 1915 the family moved again, this time to Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa. Here Myron continued to go to school until age 15 when he quit to work on the farm his father had bought a few miles from Keokuk. In 1918, when he was 17 years old, he went to Seattle, King County, Washington, where he worked in a shipyard until the end of World War I, and then returned to Keokuk. He resumed working on the farm for his father until 1921 when his older brother Weaver, who was a railroad detective for the Rock Island Railroad persuaded him to go to work as a detective. He was a detective for the Rock Island for four years rising from a Patrolman to Sergeant to Lieutenant. During that time he had several unusual experiences, one of which, as he tells it, "...consisted of (a) shooting scrape with three train robbers at San Koty siding (near Peoria) who were robbing liquor shipments (during Prohibition). I shot one of them through the shoulder, but the others got away though we got them later. Later I broke up a band of three pick-pockets working the trains out of Chicago, and (had) another shooting experience with train robbers out of Joliet who all got away."
On 7 September 1925 he married in Fort Madison, Lee County, Iowa, Alice Elizabeth ("Betty") McBlain, daughter of the Rev. Alexander R. and Alice E. (Rhine) McBlain. Betty was born 2 June 1905 in Kilduff, Jasper County, Iowa. About this time he left the railroad and began work as an insurance agent for Wisconsin National Life Insurance Company. Myron was to remain with Wisconsin Life for the remainder of his career until retirement in 1967, first as General Agent, then as State Field Supervisor for Illinois, and finally in 1929, as State Superintendant for Michigan, in which capacity he organized the state of Michigan for his company, building an agency force of 100 agents. After moving to Michigan he made his home in Grand Rapids.
On 4 February 1936 he was staying in the Hotel Kerns in Lansing, Michigan when he was awakened by a yell of "Fire!". In Myron's own words:
"I woke up and found the smell of smoke in the room and when I jumped up and looked out the window, dozens of heads were poking out, all yelling 'Help!...', but I could see we had to save ourselves. I was on the fourth floor and I found the hall ablaze so I knew we had to go out the window...so I started tying bedsheets together...I took the bedspread and tied it to the steel radiator inside and made up my mind I would grab the mattress and jump with it if the flames got into my room before I had the sheets tied to this spread.
"I took another look out the window and yelled to the man next to me "Use your sheets", but all he did was yell for help that wasn't coming. I saw a ladder put up to the third floor below me on the room to my left and as I started to tie the sheets to the spread, the flames burst into my room and I didn't wait for the sheets, I went down that spread, swung over to my left and could just reach the top of that ladder on the floor below and I went on down to the ground...I had thrown my clothes out and I found my coat and had but no pants or shoes but we people who had go out were busy dragging out the unconscious people who had jumped, into the hotel across the street...40 people burned up that night with a large number injured."
Myron was very proud of being a close personal friend of President Gerald Ford. The friendship dated from the early 1950's when Ford, then a young congressman, and Myron were neighbors in Grand Rapids. Even after Ford became President, they continued to exchange letters, and according to Myron, it was always "Kirk" and "Jerry" in their correspondence.
There were two (2) children born of the marriage.
Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids, Michigan, March 8, 1982, Page 9 D: Myron S. Kirkpatrick, aged 80, passed away Monday morning at Blodgett Hospital. Surviving are his wife, Alice; a daughter, Dr. Diane Kirkpatrick of Ann Arbor; a son, Rev. Bruce Kirkpatrick of Port Huron; three grandchildren, Ann, Joel and JoAnna Kirkpatrick; two sisters, Mrs. Carrie Donnelly of Iowa, and Mrs. Florence Williams of Missouri; several nieces and nephews, including David Kirkpatrick of Grand Rapids. Funeral announcements later. Memorials to Trinity United Methodist Church will be appreciated. Arrangements by the Metcalf & Jonkhoff Funeral Home, 933 Cherry SE.
Events
| Birth | 4 Jun 1901 | Tecumseh, Johnson Co., Nebraska |  | ||
| Marriage | 7 Sep 1925 | Fort Madison, Lee Co., Iowa - Alice Elizabeth McBlain | |||
| Death | 8 Mar 1982 | Grand Rapids, Kent Co., Michigan | | ||
| Alt name | Myron Kirkpatrick | ||||
| Residence | |||||
| Soc Sec No | Social Security #: 390-10-6957 | ||||
| Burial | Unknown | |
Families
| Spouse | Alice Elizabeth McBlain (1905 - 1986) |
| Child | Diane Marie Kirkpatrick (1933 - ) |
| Child | Bruce Alexander Kirkpatrick (1938 - ) |
| Father | William Wilberforce Kirkpatrick (1849 - 1943) |
| Mother | Laura Zeella Dodge (1863 - 1923) |
| Sibling | Charles Albert Kirkpatrick (1883 - 1956) |
| Sibling | William Bonnie Kirkpatrick (1885 - 1951) |
| Sibling | Thomas Franklin Kirkpatrick (1887 - 1946) |
| Sibling | Lorena Laura Kirkpatrick (1889 - 1971) |
| Sibling | Mary Caroline Kirkpatrick (1891 - 1984) |
| Sibling | Edward Weaver Kirkpatrick (1893 - 1963) |
| Sibling | Florence Lillian Kirkpatrick (1896 - 1987) |
| Sibling | Daisy Ethel Kirkpatrick (1898 - 1976) |
Endnotes
1. Social Security Death Index.
2. A Kirkpatrick Genealogy; Melvin Kirkpatrick & David Hudson, 1995.
3. A Kirkpatrick Genealogy; Melvin Kirkpatrick & David Hudson, 1995.
4. Obituary of Myron S. Kirkpatrick, Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids, Michigan, March 8, 1982, Page 9 D.
5. Obituary of Myron S. Kirkpatrick, Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids, Michigan, March 8, 1982, Page 9 D.