Mary Elizabeth Dillon Kirk

Mary Elizabeth Dillon was born in 1922 in Hartford, CT, to Richard Dillon and Marie (Donoghue) Dillon. She was also welcomed by her beloved brother, Richard Dillon, Jr. (“Dickie”). She attended the Cathedral of St. Joseph School in Hartford and then The Chaffee School in nearby Windsor, CT. During those years she made lifelong friends. It was at Chaffee with those friends that she gained her permanent nickname, “M’Liss,” short for Mary Elizabeth. She attended Hartford Junior College then finished her degree (1943) in English at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA where she again made lifelong friends.

Upon graduation she returned to Hartford and began teaching high school English in nearby Simsbury, CT.  She loved teaching. In a fortuitous sequence of events in the spring of 1944 (shortly before D-Day), she joined some friends at a dance for military officers in Hartford. A young Army Air Corps Lieutenant named William (“Bill”) Edward Kirk, Jr., from Charleston, WV, also joined his friends at the dance. Bill was stationed at Bradley Field near Hartford. At the dance, M’Liss and Bill made an instant connection.

As with many families of the time, the war complicated the situation. They lost touch for a time when Bill was stationed in Japan but reconnected by mail from long distance. Bill returned to Charleston in 1946 and finished his degree in chemistry. He then enrolled at Georgetown University Law School in Washington, DC, to begin his law career. Bill and M’Liss were engaged in the fall of 1947, were married in Hartford on August 28, 1948, and lived just off DuPont Circle in Washington. M’Liss began teaching English in Washington at a vocational high school while Bill finished law school. They soon moved to Park Fairfax, VA, near Washington, and welcomed two sons, William Edward Kirk, III, and Richard Dillon Kirk.

In 1953, the couple moved to Delaware when Dad joined the DuPont Company Legal Department. In Delaware, the family welcomed their daughter, Susan Helen Kirk. While Dad’s career at DuPont flourished, he remained an attentive and devoted husband and father, but Mom happily raised the three kids. We all remember experiencing childhoods filled with love, laughs and learning. She was our champion and cheerleader through elementary school, high school, college and law school. She proudly and happily watched over us until we all ‘left the nest.’ They warmly welcomed daughters-in-law Hazel (Bill, 1975), and Bridget (Dick, 1981), and son-in-law Joe (Susan, 1982).

In 1984, Dad retired from DuPont at age 62 to be sure that he and Mom could enjoy a good retirement together. They did. Among other things they traveled a lot both at home and abroad. First grandson, John Alexander Kirk had already been born in 1982, and then they welcomed granddaughter Catherine (“Cassie”) Dillon Kirk (1985), David Emerson Kirk (1986), Suzanne Grace Kirk (1987), Emily Kirk Ryan (1989), and Christine Marie Kirk (1992). For Mom, life returned full circle as she threw herself into championing and cheerleading six grandkids, all of whom lived nearby (something she absolutely treasured). Our human memory banks and digital photo banks are filled with images of joyful celebrations – all the holidays, birthdays, Mother’s Days and Father’s Days, sports events, concerts, shows, and graduations, kids, parents, uncles and aunts and, beaming over it all, Grandma and Grandpa. This was the era when Mom and Dad began the twenty-year annual tradition of renting a house on Long Beach Island that could hold all the families. This had been a dream of Mom’s since her childhood summers spent on Connecticut and Rhode Island beaches. All of us treasure those LBI years.

After Grandpa’s sudden death in 2007, as Grandma was about to turn 85, she began a whole new adventure. She moved into a nice apartment in Forwood Manor. She was independent and sociable and instantly made many new friends there. She was proud to be fully mobile – no chair, no walker, no cane. She had the chance to share the many family gatherings just as before, and to have frequent visits with kids and grandkids.

On her 95^th birthday in 2017, she fell and suffered a major injury. With courage and hard work, she recovered, but not without the loss of some mobility. She had full time assistance from home health care workers and used a walker, but she still went out to family celebrations and concerts and almost daily lunches with family members. COVID-19 virtually closed Forwood Manor so in 2020 Mom moved back to our home in Sharpley (by then Susan’s and Joe’s) where she remained.

Though her activities lessened and her short-term memory began to falter, she never lost her cheerful personality, always eager to hear about and visit with kids and grandkids (and great- grandkids Kylie and Brodie). She had the chance to see the weddings of John (Kristin), Cassie (Robert), Emily (Thomas) and Suzanne (James). And in her final hours she had the chance to Face Time with the newest member of her flock, great-grandson Jack Ryan Murray.

On October 11, 2023, after a long and happy life with us, M’Liss / Mom / Grandma died peacefully at home, leaving all of us many, many happy memories. We now picture her again with Bill / Dad / Grandpa beginning a new and permanent adventure.

We want to thank all of Mom’s aides from Senior Helpers and Home Instead. You were wonderful with Mom, and part of our family. We also thank Christiana Primary Care at Home and Accent Care Hospice.