Senator Edward P. “Ned” Kirby passed away on January 3. In his final hours, he was surrounded by family members, both in person and linked by telephone and video lines to Washington, DC, Kansas, South Carolina, Colorado, and Argentina.
He is survived by Mary Alice Kirby, his wife of 60 years, and by his children Matthew Kirby of Baldwin City, Kansas; Jane Kirby-Zaki of Washington, DC, and Thomas Kirby of Arlington, MA, as well as seven grandchildren and one great-grandson.
He was born in Whitman in 1928. After graduating from the College of the Holy Cross (1949) and Boston College Law School (1952), he joined the Army during the Korean War and served as a Lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
Edward Kirby devoted his life to public service. He served in the State Legislature, on the Plymouth Country Commission, in the State Senate for the Second Plymouth District, and as an appeals judge in the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents. His efforts were targeted to economic development for Whitman and the South Shore. He advocated for the return of commuter rail service from Boston to Plymouth, which had been abandoned in 1958. From each office he held, he looked for ways to bring the trains back. He believed this would be one of the best ways to increase access to jobs and development for the people he represented. As a State Senator and member of the Ways and Means Committee, by 1984 he had secured legislation directing the Transportation Department to prepare plans for commuter rail service to the South Shore. In 1990, along with the legislative efforts leading to his vote for the Big Dig, he secured the Governor’s support to begin work on the Old Colony Line as well. The trains began operation in 1997. An archive has been created at Bridgewater State University containing papers from his public life.
He was a lifelong member of Holy Ghost Church in Whitman where he served as a lector and participated in Eucharistic Adoration. He was known as a leading pro-life Senator.
A devoted family man, he is remembered by his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews as a kind, warm, gentle, respected figure who always encouraged them to achieve their dreams.
His funeral service will be held Friday January 13 at 9:15 AM from the Blanchard Funeral Chapel, Plymouth Street (Rte. 58 @ the rotary) Whitman, followed by a funeral Mass at 10:00 AM in the Holy Ghost Church, Whitman. Burial will follow in the Saint James Cemetery, Whitman. Visiting hours will be held Thursday January 12 from 3:00-7:00 PM.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Whitman Food Pantry or the Holy Ghost Church Building Fund, 518 Washington Street, Whitman, MA 02382.