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wards, Ina May in December of 1930 and Franklin in 1937. Sadly,
Harriet and Franklin died in childhood.
Young
Duke Kirk attended schools in Camden through the 7th grade and then,
like the majority of boys of his era, went to work. By the end of the
1930s his parents had moved to 1120 North
17th Street in Cramer
Hill.
On
September 30, 1940 Duke Kirk enlisted in the United States Army Reserve,
serving with the 112th Field Artillery Regiment which was based in
Camden. The unit was called to active duty on January 27, 1941 as the
United States activated its reserve Army units in response to the
growing tensions with Japan and the ongoing war in Europe. After serving
in the South Pacific he returned
to Camden after the war. The October 1956 New Jersey Bell Telephone
Directory show him living at 832 Birch
Street in North Camden..
Duke
Kirk was appointed to the Camden Fire Department on November 16, 1956
and reported for duty the same day. He was assigned to Engine
Company 3 at 1813
Broadway.
Duke
Kirk had moved to 2029 Westminster Street in East
Camden's McGuire Gardens public housing project by the fall of 1959. In later years he lived at
1036 Bergen
Avenue
in Cramer
Hill.
After
25 years of distinguished service, Duke Kirk retired on December 1,
1981. He
was last a resident of Williamstown, New Jersey where he passed away on
June 30, 1989.
His
son, Adelbert Kirk Jr., known to one and all as Joe Kirk, followed his
father into the Camden Fire Department on January 8, 1968. Joe Kirk
served for over 32 years before retiring on April 1, 2000.
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