Kirk Chadwick Life Sketch
Kirk Chadwick was born to Morris Wells Chadwick and Jana Lee Tolton on August 9, 1959 in Murray, Utah. (We think he was born at night, because he was often fond of saying that he may have been born at night, but it wasn’t last night.) He grew up in Lehi, Utah, and as a child, he loved to spend every spare minute that he could outside playing in the dirt, mud, and water. As he grew older, his interests expanded to hunting and fishing, as well as sports. He especially loved playing baseball as a catcher and playing football as well. As the oldest child, he often looked after his younger siblings, Dean, Blake, and Rachelle.
As a child, Kirk attended Primary and was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was a descendent of early pioneers. However when his younger brother, Scott,passed away from SIDS, the tragic incident shook his parents’ faith and the Church became less important in his home.
When he entered high school, the school automatically signed him up for Seminary, assuming that he would want to go. Because he resented this assumption, he refused to participate, choosing to attend other classes instead.
After his parents divorced when he was 15, Kirk stayed away from home as much as possible. Fortunately, he had some good friends to hang out with. When he was 16, he started attending Church services with his high school buddy, Cole Davis, and he became a regular fixture in their home. It was during this time that he became active in the church and began gaining a testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
During this timeframe, the family grew larger when his dad, Morris, married Kenna Turner who brought a step-sister Carol. Later, Melanie was born to them. His mom, Jana, married Leonard Higley. From this union, his youngest sister Shirley was born.
Kirk graduated from Lehi High School in 1977, and immediately enlisted in the United States Navy. He spent his first year in inactive duty, and then entered boot camp in 1978. After graduating from Boot Camp, he had a short stint in Tennessee for an Aviation Electronics A School. While attending A School, he learned that his sister, Rachelle, had leukemia. He was worried about Rachelle which distracted him enough that he didn’t do well in A School, consequently, the Navy sent him to the fleet assigned to the aircraft carrier, USS Ranger, in San Diego, California.
In the spring of 1980, after coming back to shore after a weeklong work-up cruise,in preparation for his second West PAC tour, he called the Young Adult rep. to see what activity was scheduled for his singles Ward, and learned that there were no activities. The rep told him that there was a girl from Idaho that wanted to do something. He pulled together an impromptu activity involving football, a beach, and two girls, his roommate and himself. That girl from Idaho had the most beautiful red hair he’d ever seen, and she had amazing football skills to boot. He was hooked! Her name was Leta. On July 26, 1980, they were married in the Idaho Falls Temple. They spent their honeymoon, as it were, driving from Ririe to San Diego as Kirk had to be back for more work-ups. He left for his second tour in September of 1980, so they spent their first Christmas with an ocean between them. In early January, Kirk flew home from Kenya, Africa back home to San Diego, CA for his dental technician school.
In November of 1981, Kirk and Leta welcomed their first baby, Emily, and in May of 1983, they welcomed their second baby, Chelsea. Not long after Chelsea was born, Kirk finished his commitment to the Navy, and Kirk and Leta moved to Ririe, Idaho so Kirk could attend Dental Lab School in Idaho Falls. He graduated in the spring of 1985 and took a job at a dental lab in Meridian. Leta stayed behind in Ririe for a few months because she was pregnant with their third child. When Kirk came home for the long Fourth of July weekend, Leta gave birth to their third daughter, Devri, on July 4th. After Devri was born, the whole family moved to Meridian, Idaho. Shortly afterwards, they purchased a house on the outskirts of Boise. In September of 1986, Kirk and Leta welcomed their first son, McCallan.
Life in Boise was particularly challenging for Kirk and Leta. Devri, who was born with congenital hip dysplasia, needed surgery to correct her hip problem. They had four small children under the age of six, one of which was in a body cast, and they didn’t have the help and support that they needed. In fact, much of the time, they felt ostracized and looked down upon by their neighbors, which was especially difficult for them. Leta asked Kirk to take her home. In 1987, Kirk took a job at a dental lab in Idaho Falls so that they could be closer to family and have more support through their challenges.
Not long after moving to Idaho Falls, Kirk lost his job at the Dental Lab, and he knew he needed to pursue a different career. Looking for additional direction, he completed an application to Rick’s College, but in August of 1989, he got a job offer at the Department of Energy Site (known locally as “The Site”), and decided to forgo attending college at that time. Thus began his long stint of getting up early to drive to catch a 2-hour (each way) bus ride to the Site.
In the spring of 1990, Kirk started taking college courses at night. His morning began at 4:30 am. He would work all day, attend classes in the evening and eventually arrive home after 10:00 pm. He completed his assignments on the bus and late at night. That fall, McCallan was diagnosed with cancer and their next challenge began. This time was a major crucible for Kirk and Leta, especially Kirk, as their only son underwent chemotherapy treatments at Primary Children’s Hospital in Utah.
In many ways, he felt like he was repeating his time in Tennessee when Rachelle was sick. He did poorly in his classes as he worried and worried about what would happen with McCallan. Kirk had to muster up all his strength and faith to be strong for his young family and give priesthood blessings to his son. The soft spot he already had for kids was made even more tender, and he could never watch the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon without sobbing, especially during the song, “Thank God for Kids.”
In November 1990, Taryn was born, and she was a joy in the midst of McCallan’s battle with cancer. Ethan completed the family in May of 1992, just a couple of days prior to McCallan’s last chemotherapy treatment..
Kirk continued to attend night classes, but still found time to coach each of his kids in Ririe’s City Basketball League. He loved sports, and constantly tried to instill a love for baseball, basketball, and football into the hearts of his children. While each child participated in basketball, t-ball, and pitching machine, the deep love for sports really only landed in the hearts of his two sons. That didn’t stop him from getting his family out in the backyard to play softball, basketball, and even field hockey. Occasionally, the neighbor kids would come join in the backyard sports.
Kirk loved coaching McCallan and Ethan in baseball. He would check out coaching books from the library in Idaho Falls to help him be a better coach to all those boys. He tried really hard to get a baseball program going in Ririe, but could never really get it to take off. He also coached Ethan’s grid-kid football team. He loved being able to go and watch all of his kids’ sports events whenever he could.
Even though sports events were his favorite, he was always supportive of everything his kids participated in. He really didn’t like hearing them practice the piano or their band instruments, but he was at every recital and every concert, as well as all four of his daughters’ Junior Miss Programs. He supported all of his kids in their passions and interests, and he strongly believed that his kids were capable of anything.
He was a huge advocate for education, especially because his educational path was so difficult. He encouraged his children to get good grades, always keeping college at the forefront of their minds. He graduated from the University of Idaho in May of 2003 culminating a 13 year effort, and it was one of his proudest accomplishments.
Five months after receiving his Bachelor’s Degree, Kirk was laid off from his job at the site, and he struggled for years to find a job requiring his skill-set in the area since the Site would never hire him back. He held many different jobs over the next 15 years, including a job manning the National Guard Base in Rigby for two years while the unit was deployed, working in the Service and Parts Department at Broadway Ford in Idaho Falls, and substitute teaching at the various school districts in the area. He started a business during this time and was able to use this to combine his love of community and sports by screen printing t-shirts, often with the local school district.
He was able to secure employment for a time at Madison School District as a custodian because he wanted to do whatever he could to support his family. While he was grateful for full-time employment, and even got promoted to a supervisor position, he often felt demeaned by patrons at the school, and he hated the stigma attached to being a custodian. He became more and more miserable the longer he worked until Leta convinced him to quit and they’d figure something else out.
Eventually, he was able to get a job as a safety consultant for a company that reviews Head Start preschools across the country, and he loved being able to travel across the country making sure the schools were safe for the children who attended them. He relished being able to use his work experience and his college degree at this job. Unfortunately, Head Start changed their guidelines a year after he started consulting resulting in fewer reviews, and he was once again back looking for meaningful employment and substituting at the local school districts.
In 2017, Kirk found a posting for a job with the Idaho Falls School District that seemed to be written just for him. The job involved overseeing all the safety needs in the district, and was the perfect mix of his work experience at the Site, his work inspecting Head Start Centers, and even his time as a custodian. Thankfully, he got the job, and he spent the last two years of his earthly life in a job that he enjoyed, despite unfounded constant worry that he would lose this job as well.
Throughout his life, Kirk wanted to create a better life for his family than the home he grew up in. He grew up in a home with very little, and he always wanted to give his family so much more. He often sacrificed the things that he wanted so that his children could have the things that they wanted. He constantly worked to be the kind of son that his Father in Heaven would be proud of. He wanted to be perfect, and he often lamented over what he lacked.
He struggled with his health for years. He was constantly in pain with his knees, despite multiple replacements. He had far too many kidney infections and other infections. At the time of his death, he was fighting yet another raging infection, and his heart just couldn’t handle the stress anymore. He passed away on June 12, 2019. The heart attack that took his life was completely unexpected, but his family takes comfort in knowing that he is no longer in pain, and that he is back with His Savior, who he loved so much.
Kirk was incredibly proud of his military service and his college degree, but his greatest pride and treasures were his 6 children, their spouses, and his 14 grandchildren. His family was his whole world, and he loved to find ways to spoil each one. He loved to get the treats when they were at the store. He’d stock up on their favorite snacks when he knew they’d be in town, He was constantly on the prowl for fun, unique toys to give them, and he usually made some kind of wooden toy or treasure for Christmas. However, as much as he loved his crew, he loved his sweetheart, Leta, even more. He loved her beautiful red hair and her fiery personality. She was the love and light of his life, and he would have been completely lost without her.
Even though Kirk was often frustrated by people’s driving, he is remembered most for his outgoing and friendly disposition. Kirk had a reputation at church among the primary children for having fruit snacks in his pocket. He never met a stranger in his life and was known for always having a smile and a friendly word for everyone who came across his path. He found (sometimes distant) connections with people all around him. He was incredibly giving of his time, his talents, his things, and his heart.
