SOUTH PARIS — John Kirby, 90, of Wilton died Wednesday, March 8, at the Maine Veterans’ Home, surrounded by his loving family.

He was born Oct. 8, 1926, in Brownville Junction. One of five children, he was a son of John T. and Marion (Stevens) Kirby. He attended Brownville Junction schools and became an honorary graduate later in life. He entered the U.S. Navy at age 17 and trained as a Navy corpsman in Washington, D.C., and was assigned to the 6th Marine Division in the South Pacific. He had further training in Guam and then participated in the invasion of Okinawa in April 1945. He was injured twice, earning a Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific (1 star), and a World War II Victory Medal. He completed his active service in China tending to military personnel.

After his military service, he was a lineman for the Canadian Pacific Railway and then a rural mail carrier in Brownville and later in Farmington, before he retired in 1993. He was an all-around handyman able to do construction, wiring and carpentry. He loved fishing, hunting and gardening in his spare time and taught these hobbies to his children.

He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

He is predeceased by his wife of 26 years, Ardelle Small; and son, Wayne.

He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Mary Picard Kirby; his children, John and and his wife, Diane, of New Gloucester, Gerald and his wife, Jennie, of Dexter, Alan and his wife, Pam, of Derry, N.H., Dianne and her husband, Dennis Bowden, of Hermon, Deanna and her husband, Richard DeWitt, of Lakeview Plantation and widow of Wayne, and Sheila Kirby of Glennville, Ga.; and stepchildren, Heidi and her husband, Mark Poole, of Bristow, Va., Tina and her husband, Jeff Meserve, of Livermore, and Chris and his wife, Brenda Whitney, of Milton, Fla. He has many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

His family asks that you share condolences and tributes on his memorial wall at www.wilesrc.com.