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KIRBY Iola Elaine Kirby was born near the town of Hext, Texas on July 2, 1925. Her parents were Jim and Emma Sutton. As a child, with her two brothers and three sisters, she worked in the fields alongside her parents to maintain the family farm during the meager years of the Great Depression. Undaunted by the times, however, her cheerful and optimistic nature earned her the nickname Happy, and, for her siblings and parents and those that knew her as a child, that name would stick with her forever. After graduating from Menard High School in 1941, she took a job working nights as a telephone operator to pay for college classes, which she attended during the day. But her education and her life, like the lives of so many during the years of World War II, were interrupted for a while, when she was forced to return to the farm and work full time. She went back to school after the war, though, and in 1949 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Southwest Texas State Teachers College Texas State University. She then embarked upon a long and remarkable career as a public school teacher, a career that would span 5 decades, that would involve as many as ten different school districts across Texas and Arkansas, and that would touchwith her love and tireless dedicationthe lives of thousands. Eventually, Mrs. Kirby would hold a teaching position in every grade, first through twelfth. She was a skilled instructor and an exemplary role model, but more than this, she had a particular compassion for those children who struggled, the underdogs, the less fortunate or less talented ones who often get passed over by the system, and forgotten. For these, she reserved a special kind of patience and energy. Her first job in the teaching profession was in El Dorado, Texas, in 1949, where she taught home economics at El Dorado High School, and it was there that she met and married Joe Ted Kirby. She would be Coach Kirbys wife and friend for 58 years, and it was beneath his anxious and loving heart, and beneath the anxious and loving hearts of their three children, Craig, Gus, and Laura Ann that she passed away at home, in San Antonio, at 6:42 PM on October 29, 2007. She was 82 years old. In addition to her husband and three children, she will continue to live in the minds of her grandchildren, Clint, Sarah, and Rebekah Blanchard, and Jason, T.J., Chad, Mitch, Betsy, and Chip Linahan; her daughter-in-law, Anne Linahan Kirby; her brother, J.W. Sutton; her sisters, Madlyn Mason and Willie Puryear; and her countless friends and relations, including her special Christian family of friends at Sunset Ridge Church of Christ in San Antonio. Visitation will be held on Sunday-November 4, 2007 from 6:00PM until 8:00PM at Mission Park Funeral Chapels North. A Memorial Service will be held for her at 12:00Noon, Monday, November 5, 2007, at the funeral home chapel, and she will be laid to rest at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery. She will be remembered as a sweet and beautiful person, a gentle soul, and a good Christian, who believed in the words of Jesus and lived by them. Until the end, she was Happy. And she made others happy. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to a charity of your choice. You may sign the on-line guestbook at www.missionparks.com under the obituary section. MISSION PARK NORTH 3401 CHERRY RIDGE SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 78230 210 349-1414

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Iola Elaine Sutton Kirby

July 2, 1925 - October 29, 2007