Few young people today realize how much they benefit from the enthusiasm and hard work of a man from Pasadena, California, who arrived in Centralia during a turbulent time in the mid-1980s.
High school students who participate in Running Start. Older students ambling past an iconic clock tower on the brick esplanade on their way to Centralia College classes instead of dodging traffic. Faculty, staff and community members who take pride in the gorgeous Centralia College campus once described as “nondescript.”
We owe much to the Centralia College cheerleader hired by District 12 college trustees in 1985 as interim president during a time when anger, fear, and low morale permeated the campus as an uncertain future loomed.
Dr. Henry Port Kirk III, better known locally as “Hank,” died in the early morning hours April 14, after devoting more than half of his 90 years to improving higher education. Friends, family and former colleagues will gather at 2 p.m. May 9 at Westminster Presbyterian Church to celebrate the life of this remarkable local legend with twinkling eyes and a welcoming hug. I interviewed Hank a dozen years ago while compiling the 2016 book “Centralia College: Its People and Their Stories,” and later worked with him and his wife, Jenny, to compile two volumes of his memoir, “Go Forward with Courage and Confidence.”
Chris Bailey, who worked as an instructor at Centralia College and later retired as president of Lower Columbia College in Longview, recalled seeing the “gregarious” Hank in action.
“He was a powerhouse in our local community,” he said. “He seemed to know everyone and their names. He brought a bright and positive energy to every event he attended. He had a contagious smile and genuinely loved people. He lived the community part of community college.”
Hank grew up in rural Pennsylvania, graduated from Geneva College with a bachelor’s degree in history, and earned a master’s from University of Denver and a doctorate from University of Southern California.
He met his first wife, Mattie, in 1957, and they raised three children — Timothy, Maryann and Rebecca — while pursuing their higher education goals. Mattie, who had served on the Chehalis City Council, died of cancer in 1996, four years after the death of their son, Tim, at 34.
Hank worked as a counselor in student admissions at Christian College in Columbia, Missouri, then as dean of students at Huron College in South Dakota before accepting a job as dean of students and later assistant professor of counseling at California State University at Los Angeles. He fell in love with community colleges and accepted a job as dean at El Camino Community College in California. After serving as vice president at Pasadena City College, he applied for the job of interim president of Centralia College.
When he arrived in Centralia, Hank discovered a community in upheaval over efforts to divide Community College District 12 in two, letting the growing South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia operate separately from Centralia College, which faced declining enrollment, financial troubles, and worries over whether the institution established in 1925 would even survive.
Into this upheaval stepped Hank, a man with a positive outlook and belief in the importance of immersing himself in the community served by the college.
“There are no guarantees when you hire a community college president,” said Arlie Lyons of Toledo, who served as a college trustee at the time. “I am pleased to have been part of the Board of Trustees that hired Dr. Kirk. Hank’s 16 years of enthusiasm, dedication and leadership were invaluable for both Centralia College and the community.”
He truly became the college’s cheerleader, explaining how Centralia could survive and even thrive after a split of the district in 1988. He coined and often repeated Centralia’s distinct place in history as “the oldest continually operating community college in the state.” Everett College opened in 1915, a decade before Centralia College did, but it closed after operating for eight years. Centralia opened in 1925 and never closed its doors, even during the challenging years of the Great Depression and World War II (thanks in large part to Margaret Corbet and Katharine Kemp).
“I was a cheerleader for that institution,” he told me during an interview for the college history book. “The thing is that I believe it. It’s a great institution and great things happen there and I made no bones about it.”
After his first year, the board of trustees offered him the permanent job as president, and he cheerfully accepted. He energized the fairly inactive Centralia College Foundation, established in 1982, by holding fundraising campaigns to generate donations for student scholarships, equipment purchases, and establishment of new programs. In an interview for the college history, former trustee Robert Thompson described Hank as “a very enthusiastic guy and very competent guy.”
The college expanded to include the East Lewis County branch in Morton and the Garrett Heyns Education Center at the Washington State Correctional Center. The Washington State Legislature approved the Running Start program in 1993, enabling community colleges to open their doors to high school students eager to earn college credits.
Under his tenure, the college established a parent aid program and, in 1993, dedicated the Cornelia Van Prooyen Child Development Center at Oak and Plum streets. Centralia College provided training programs for displaced homemakers and dislocated workers. And Hank, who wasn’t the most computer-savvy person, oversaw the introduction and implementation of computers and new technology on the campus.
“I can remember the first time that computers came, and we had classes on how to open the lid and how to turn it on and so on,” Kirk said. “And then we started emailing, and I emailed the wrong thing to the wrong person and they said, ‘Dr. Kirk, that’s not the way you do that.’ So I remember those days when technology first came to our campus.”
The campus itself, especially after he hired Steve Ward, flourished with construction of the Diversity Clock Tower, Aadland Esplanade, Washington Hall with its 500-seat Corbet Theatre, and the Centralia College Learning Assistance Resource Center, which was named the Kirk Library after he retired. Ward worked with neighbors and city officials to purchase homes and close off streets to create a campus in the center of town.
“Hank’s an enthusiastic visionary, you know, and much of what you see there physically is the result of his drive and effort,” Thompson said. “Hank was a tremendous college president.”
Joanne Schwartz, who served as a college trustee, said a decade ago, “Even to this day, I’ve never seen anybody with so much energy. Hank, I think, brought the college to the forefront in the minds of people. He just was out there talking about Centralia College.”
Hank suffered heartache while leading the college too—first the death of his son and then the passing of his wife of 40 years.
After Mattie died, Hank reconnected with Jenny Sheldon, whom he had worked with in Pasadena.
“I knew Dr. Kirk was extraordinary,” she said recently. “His enthusiasm for higher education and seeing that students were provided an excellent experience was inspiring. He was motivated by the power of positive thinking and high moral values.”
They wrote letters, visited, and in December 1997, married.
“I have often said I was blessed to have a mentor 24/7,” Jenny said. “I was drawn closer to him by his ‘can do’ spirit and faith-driven life.”
Determined to give back to the community he served, Hank created endowments equal to a year of his salary. He established a Phi Theta Kappa Endowment to honor his son; the Mattie Kirk
Music Scholarship to honor his first wife; the Dr. Henry Kirk President’s Endowed Scholarship; and a fine arts endowment in the names of Henry and Jenny Kirk.
Under his tutelage, the college started recognizing its Distinguished Alumni and Exceptional Faculty with awards and publicizing those achievements throughout the community. He lobbied state lawmakers to bring two impressive works of art unused in the Legislature to the college campus — Michael Spafford’s black-and-white “Twelve Labors of Hercules” for Corbet Theatre, which was built to accommodate the murals, and Northwest painter Alden Mason’s squiggly colorful murals, which grace the Kirk Library. The Centralia College Foundation also commissioned artist Jim Stafford to create the 9½-foot “Reach for the Stars” bronze statue outside Washington Hall. It is a tribute to Stafford’s son, Chris, a CC student who died in 1995 at 23 from complications of a disease.
Robert Godsey, who retired after 32 years of teaching math, said of Hank, “He was a great public relations cheerleader type.”
And Gordon Aadland, who retired as college public information officer in 1985 and wrote a column for The Chronicle until his death in October 2013 at 92, described Hank as “Mr. Centralia College” and “a very likeable guy and highly admirable for what he did.”
Hank was a man of faith who, for three decades, led two men’s Bible study groups called Sharing All Life Together. His faith shone through when I interviewed him.
“When I came here, I prayed and I said, ‘God, I don’t know how to be a college president. Would you please be the college president through me?’ … And the secret to your success starts right on your knees. I was praying to a good God that hears prayer and answers and said, ‘Well, you obviously need some help, my boy,’” Kirk said. “So I just credit Him for anything good that happens.”
Although he worked in Centralia, Hank settled in Chehalis in a historic house called Marietta Manor. Brenda O’Connor served with Hank for 11 years on the Chehalis Historic Preservation Commission.
“Hank was dynamic and a force to be reckoned with, passionate about preservation of historic buildings and the history of Chehalis,” she said. The Kirks hosted the commission’s annual Christmas party, and in September 1999, threw a 100th birthday celebration for their house where they served homemade ice cream.
During their 28 years together, Jenny said Hank finished his Centralia College presidency, and together they helped “the people of Malawi, Africa, establish the first Christian university in their country.”
“I was most happy living in his shadow and supporting his consultative leadership and progress,” she said, describing him as a “full speed ahead” man who later adopted a new mantra, “Keep calm and carry on.”
The past eight years Hank suffered the ravages of dementia, and Jenny was cared for him during what is often called the long goodbye.
“I shall always be grateful for the life I experienced with my wonderful HPK,” she said. “We shared an abiding faith and took solace in the belief we would meet again to live eternally with the Lord.”
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
