To live one's life with honor and dignity
Like the fairways we walk
Our path to eternal happiness
will be forever green
COOPERSTOWN - Edward Louis Kirn, Sr., a longtime area resident who owned and operated Kirn's Body Shop in Cooperstown, died Tuesday morning, August 2, 2011, at Otsego Manor. He was 92.
Born February 9, 1919, in Red Lodge, Montana, he was a son of Albert and Rose (Ossinich) Kirn. His father was working as a coal miner in Montana when Ed was born, but in the 1920s the family moved to Michigan and his father went to work on the assembly lines for the Ford Motor Company. The family later moved to Pennsylvania and then in 1931 settled in Town of Middlefield where Ed attended a one room schoolhouse in Middlefield Center. In the late 1930s the Kirns purchased a dairy farm in Hartwick and settled there.
On November 22, 1941, Ed married the former Mollie Marie Oblak in a ceremony at the First Baptist Church of Hartwick.
From the 1940s until the 1960s Ed continued working on his family's farm. In the late 1950s he was also employed as a machinist in Clayville, as well as a body man for Al Welch and Ed Smith. In 1966 Ed went into business for himself and opened Kirn's Body Shop in the space formerly occupied by Cook's Garage. In 1978 he built the current facility just south of the village on State Highway 28.
Ed was a true outdoorsman who loved to hunt and fish. Trap and skeet shooting, turkey hunting, and ice and deep sea fishing, were all hobbies Ed enjoyed to the fullest. His ability with a gun was legendary and his friends and family called him "Hawkeye" for being such an incredible shot. Ed also enjoyed bowling, snowmobiling and, in the era of town baseball teams, was a talented baseball player. Later in life he took up golf, which became a passion for him, leading him all the way to Scotland where he played on St. Andrew's Links, the Home of Golf.
Proud of his Austrian and Slovenian heritage, he was a 50-year member of the Slovenska Narodna Podporna Jednota (SNPJ) and was a communicant of St. Mary's "Our Lady of the Lake" Roman Catholic Church in Cooperstown.
Ed is survived by two daughters, Rosemary Hoag and her husband, Donald, of Toddsville and Joan Cauley and her husband, Timothy, of Lake Wales, Florida and Altamar; two sons, Edward L. Kirn, Jr. and his wife, Pat, of Canton, Georgia and Robert G. Kirn and his wife, Charlene, of Soddy Daisy, Tennessee; eight grandchildren; 10 great grandchildren; one sister, Dorothy Hartman of Dearborn, Michigan; one brother, Rudy Kirn and his wife, "Giz", of Union Lake, Michigan; and several nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Mollie, who died June 2, 2005.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10:30 AM on Friday, August 5, 2011, at St. Mary's "Our Lady of the Lake" Roman Catholic Church in Cooperstown with Fr. John P. Rosson, pastor, presiding. The Rite of Committal and Burial will follow in St. Mary's Cemetery in Index.
Friends may call at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown from 6 - 8 on Thursday evening, August 4, 2011 when Ed's family will be in attendance.
As an alternative to flowers, Ed's family suggests memorial contributions be made to Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care, 1 Birchwood Drive, Oneonta, NY 13820.
Arrangements are under the guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.
Born February 9, 1919, in Red Lodge, Montana, he was a son of Albert and Rose (Ossinich) Kirn. His father was working as a coal miner in Montana when Ed was born, but in the 1920s the family moved to Michigan and his father went to work on the assembly lines for the Ford Motor Company. The family later moved to Pennsylvania and then in 1931 settled in Town of Middlefield where Ed attended a one room schoolhouse in Middlefield Center. In the late 1930s the Kirns purchased a dairy farm in Hartwick and settled there.
On November 22, 1941, Ed married the former Mollie Marie Oblak in a ceremony at the First Baptist Church of Hartwick.
From the 1940s until the 1960s Ed continued working on his family's farm. In the late 1950s he was also employed as a machinist in Clayville, as well as a body man for Al Welch and Ed Smith. In 1966 Ed went into business for himself and opened Kirn's Body Shop in the space formerly occupied by Cook's Garage. In 1978 he built the current facility just south of the village on State Highway 28.
Ed was a true outdoorsman who loved to hunt and fish. Trap and skeet shooting, turkey hunting, and ice and deep sea fishing, were all hobbies Ed enjoyed to the fullest. His ability with a gun was legendary and his friends and family called him "Hawkeye" for being such an incredible shot. Ed also enjoyed bowling, snowmobiling and, in the era of town baseball teams, was a talented baseball player. Later in life he took up golf, which became a passion for him, leading him all the way to Scotland where he played on St. Andrew's Links, the Home of Golf.
Proud of his Austrian and Slovenian heritage, he was a 50-year member of the Slovenska Narodna Podporna Jednota (SNPJ) and was a communicant of St. Mary's "Our Lady of the Lake" Roman Catholic Church in Cooperstown.
Ed is survived by two daughters, Rosemary Hoag and her husband, Donald, of Toddsville and Joan Cauley and her husband, Timothy, of Lake Wales, Florida and Altamar; two sons, Edward L. Kirn, Jr. and his wife, Pat, of Canton, Georgia and Robert G. Kirn and his wife, Charlene, of Soddy Daisy, Tennessee; eight grandchildren; 10 great grandchildren; one sister, Dorothy Hartman of Dearborn, Michigan; one brother, Rudy Kirn and his wife, "Giz", of Union Lake, Michigan; and several nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Mollie, who died June 2, 2005.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10:30 AM on Friday, August 5, 2011, at St. Mary's "Our Lady of the Lake" Roman Catholic Church in Cooperstown with Fr. John P. Rosson, pastor, presiding. The Rite of Committal and Burial will follow in St. Mary's Cemetery in Index.
Friends may call at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown from 6 - 8 on Thursday evening, August 4, 2011 when Ed's family will be in attendance.
As an alternative to flowers, Ed's family suggests memorial contributions be made to Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care, 1 Birchwood Drive, Oneonta, NY 13820.
Arrangements are under the guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.
If you would like to send condolences to the family, CLICK HERE to send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family.
