Marion Kirby Obituary and Funeral, Legendary North Carolina coach
Sarah Oconnor
Updated on January 18, 2026
On June 19, 2023, coach Marion Wesley Kirby, who was born on October 26, 1942, quietly passed away. At 80 years old, he was.
Many people, including those who discussed Marion Kirby’s football teams, commented of their mystique and charm.
They used phrases like famous and storied. They expressed themselves in this manner since his teams frequently achieved epic victories.
The adversaries who had heard the legends anticipated Goliaths and were shocked to see a field full of Davids instead; a roster that was on the smaller side, disappointing in helmets and shoulder pads but overwhelming in heart and discipline, skilled in tactics, and tenacious. This is how Kirby liked his teams. He was skilled at mentoring young men with great hearts.
The athletic career of Marion Kirby, the proud son of Otis Boyd Kirby and Mabel Smith Kirby, began in the yard behind his childhood home in Hickory, North Carolina, with a hand-me-down bat, a battered baseball, and a big imagination.
From there, it continued to the sand lots in the neighborhood, the football fields at Hickory Junior High and Hickory High School, where Kirby played for NC Sports Hall of Fame Coach Frank Barger (and was all conference, all state, and a member of the 1960 East/West All Star Game), and finally at Lenoir-Rhyne College (where he won the Freshman of the Year Award, four-year lettering, and the National Championship).
On Tuesday, June 27, at 3:30 p.m., a memorial ceremony will be held at Lawndale Baptist Church in Greensboro.
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Thereafter, the family will host a gathering at Marion Kirby Stadium at Page High School for friends, former teammates, and members of the local community. Lenoir-Rhyne University’s O.B. Kirby Scholarship Fund can be contacted at 625 7th Avenue NE, LRU 7467, Hickory, NC 28601.
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