Who Keeps the Memories?

Who keeps the memories when we are gone?

The photos?  The letters?
The secrets...
If there are no descendants.

If there are descendants
we will be remembered
for a while
then forgotten with the ages.

We don't remember the long ago because there are too few artifacts.
Our descendants, if we have them, won't remember today because there are too many artifacts.

Last night, these thoughts made me cry.

Today, I have an answer that makes me laugh - 

Google will keep them!

Shana Crondahl

Obituary and Planning the Program

Obituary: A wonderful obituary written by Mike's young friend, Carl Brodersen (with suggestions by others), is in today's Juneau Empire. It is a lovely tribute to a remarkable person with the type of humor any friend of Mike's would appreciate.

Planning the Program (Sunday, October 13, 2:00 pm)
One of the things we learned about Mike during his last illness was that he had many different circles of friends and, unlike venn circles, there was sometimes little overlap. Through this blog, we would like to invite all his friends to provide ideas for his Celebration of Life. If you have a story or memory to share during the celebration, let us know about it. What was your connection to Mike? How/when did you meet him? How did he impact your life or the lives of others? What do you believe would be important to include in his celebration?

We know there are at least a few people who will be coming from out of town. Let us know if you are. Also, if you have a spare bed you would like to provide for someone coming from out of town, let us know that, too.

For either of the above, you may email me at crondahl@gmail.com.

Shana Crondahl, my daughter,  has volunteered to collect other remembrances and stories from people and compile them for posting on the web and for viewing at the celebration of life.  If possible, write stories in either a Word or text file and send attached to an email.  You can also include photos with the remembrance.  Her email is crondahlwilson@gci.net. 

Lisa Tansey will be putting together a slide show for the celebration. If you have photos you would like to share, email them to her at awarelisa@gmail.com. 

Celebration of Life Scheduled

We are reserving the Juneau Arts and Culture Center (JACC) for a Celebration of Life on Sunday, October 13 at 2:00 pm. Please mark your calendars and pass the word.

Klas Stolpe, who normally reports on sports for the Juneau Empire, has written a lovely tribute to Mike in Tuesday's paper.

If you haven't read the comments on the KTOO story on Mike, there are some very nice ones. 

The Juneau Empire is working on a story about Mike. Call the reporter, Katie Moritz, at 907-523-2294 or email her if you would like to provide her with some information about Mike.

Photos of Mike

Last summer when Mike's friend, Jan Tiura was visiting from California, she took some beautiful photos of Mike. She has offered to make digital files available to friends and family who are interested. You can contact her directly at jan@phototiura.com if you are interested. I have included one of the photos here for you to see.

Memorial for Mike

We are beginning to plan for Mike's memorial. Two weekends are being considered. The preferred weekend is November 2. This would allow those who would be coming from out of town more time to plan and to advance purchase airline tickets. The other date would be the weekend of October 12. If you could not make it in November and prefer the weekend of October 12, please comment below this blog or email Judy.

As of now, a venue has not been chosen; however, the Juneau Arts and Culture Center (JACC) is being considered. If you have other ideas for an appropriate venue, please comment below this blog or email Judy to let her know. 

Something Old and Something New

There are some wonderful old family photos that Mike's niece, Lisa Tansey, has posted from a trip to Germany with her father, David (Mike's brother).

Trip to Germany

 Also, there was a very nice news report on Mike on KTOO radio this morning. You can read it here.

KTOO News

Michael John Kirk 8/6/1924 - 8/22/2013

Mike Kirk died this morning, Thursday, August 22, 2013, at about 6:40 am. Bruce Botelho was with him at the time when he stopped breathing in his sleep. We (Judy and Jay Crondahl) got back to Juneau at about 10:00 last night. Katy Hursch sat with him from 10:00 pm until just before 2:00 am and Beth Leibowitz provided backup at the end of Katy's shift and at the beginning of mine. I went in at 2:00 and was there until almost 5:00 when Bruce came in. Mike was sleeping soundly the entire time so I don't think he even knew I was there. 

Thanks to all who helped and especially to those who volunteered and spent time with him in his last days.

Judy Crondahl