HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 738 Offered January 10, 2007 Prefiled January 10, 2007 Commending Arthur A. Kirk. ---------- Patron-- Joannou ----------

WHEREAS, Dr. Arthur A. Kirk, respected citizen, retired orthopedic surgeon, and beloved community benefactor, was honored as First Citizen of Portsmouth on May 8, 2006; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Kirk graduated from the Medical College of Virginia, treated the victims of concentration camps during his military service in World War II, and traveled throughout the world studying and learning about life and his fellow man; and

WHEREAS, after completing medical school, Dr. Kirk came home to Portsmouth to practice medicine with his uncle, Dr. John Abbitt, and, deciding to specialize in orthopedics, became the first orthopedic surgeon in the area; he tried innovative hand surgery techniques and disc repair work and wrote about his advances for medical journals; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Kirk and his wonderful wife Marie have generously contributed monetarily, as well as through their extraordinary volunteer efforts and their considerable gifts and talents, to improve the quality of life for all of the citizens of Portsmouth; and

WHEREAS, the Kirk family has given back to the community and to their fellow citizens in Hampton Roads without fanfare and with very little recognition and have passed a legacy of giving on to their children, Ann and Russell, who were educated in the Portsmouth Public Schools and went on to graduate from college, build fine careers, and continue their parents’ good works; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Kirk has always had a passion for fine gems, and over the years, has donated rare and exquisitely beautiful stones and other artifacts to support worthy causes, including a 3.856 carat blue topaz that he and Marie donated to the Old Dominion University Gemology Museum in memory of their beloved son William, who died at age 30 from melanoma; and

WHEREAS, Dr. and Mrs. Kirk gave similarly rare gems to Virginia Tech and the Smithsonian Institution and two gold crosses to churches in the Hampton Roads area; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Kirk, who has championed the rights of disabled children in Hampton Roads for six decades, received an honorary doctor of science degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, which he helped to establish; and

WHEREAS, the contributions Dr. Kirk has made to the Portsmouth community are extensive and include the founding with Grace Cone of the Kirk-Cone School, which, from 1954 until the mid-1970s, provided education for children with disabilities who were excluded from the public school system; the Kirk-Cone Foundation still assists children in need through the Portsmouth and Chesapeake public schools; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Kirk has given his time and surgical expertise at a clinic for indigent children sponsored by the Public Health Department for more than 40 years; and

WHEREAS, over the years, Dr. Kirk has received innumerable awards for his philanthropy and volunteerism to diverse causes, and he was recognized in 1971 for his meritorious service by the President’s Committee to Employ the Handicapped and in 1995 as Environmentalist of the Year by the Nature Conservancy; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Kirk is greatly admired by all who know him and he is foremost a sincere, unassuming, and humble man who has been compelled all of his life to help others in need; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend and congratulate Arthur R. Kirk on his well-deserved honor as the First Citizen of Portsmouth; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Arthur Kirk as an expression of the General Assembly’s gratitude for his numerous contributions to the citizens of Portsmouth and the Commonwealth.