I don't even know where to start. I've lost my brother and it's been one of the hardest things to deal with. Growing up Curt and I had some knock down drag out fights but we had more good time than bad. Could he be a pain in the you know what when we was little? You bet he could. But I wouldn't trade any of that for anything. With my brother it was always a competition always seeing who could best each other. And it could be a competition with anything like, sledding, baseball, video games, board games, even racing big wheels down the stone driveway. And usually if I bested him it was always let's do it again so he could try and beat me. We even had the Stomper battery operated trucks and pulling sled and would compete for hours outside. When I was deployed to Iraq during Operation Desert Storm he wrote me and sent me a picture of him in his dress greens where he had joined the Army National Guard. On the photo he had wrote your little brother is all grown up now or something to that extent. I was proud of him. After Desert Storm I left active duty Army and was just going to get out but Curt convinced me to finish out my time in the Guard and join his unit in Lebanon, Tennessee. So I did and got to serve with my brother in the Guard. I guess you could say if it wasn't for Curt, I wouldn't have retired from the Guard with 20 years. The black and white photo of us was at the armory in Lebanon at the Christmas dinner that we would have each year. He was a heck of a hunter and fisherman. His first buck was a 6 pointer and we were hunting the same land along with my dad. I remember hearing him shoot and in a few minutes he was walking up the hill to my stand. He said he shot one could I come help him find it. I climbed down and we tracked it. Dad met us and when we found it and he had gut shot it. It's stunk so bad but like a true hunter he got in there with dad and field dressed that deer. He was also a heck of a baseball player. Way better than I was. He always made the all star team and for good reason. I remember watching him on base leading off and taunting the pitcher and catcher and it'd work causing a errand throw resulting in a stolen base. He was so fast. I never beat him in a foot race, not even close. I miss him so much already. We would either text each other every now and then and would jokingly misspell words. It was an inside joke. I'll sure miss that. It's just hard to believe I won't be able to talk to or see him again. I feel like a piece of me is gone. I tried to be the best big brother and protector I could especially when we was growing up. Curt you will be missed so much. Rest in peace little brother. Hopefully one day we will be together again. I love you.

Though it still doesn’t seem real, we said goodbye to a very special person in our life this weekend. Curtis was truly one of the good ones. He was probably one of the most stubborn and strong-willed people I’ve ever known, which served him well when it came to his health. He willed himself to get better through so many hurdles and obstacles, and his fighting spirit and tenacity was celebrated to its fullest when he finally got his kidney transplant in February 2020. I’ve never seen anyone happier than Curtis when he finally, after a nearly 10 year hiatus, got to step into a hot tub again over Christmas just a few weeks ago. He was a natural care-taker, always putting others’ needs before his own. We have long joked that we were naming Cari’s boat “Hey Curtis!” because it was a phrase commonly used around him. From “Hey Curtis, throw another round of drinks to us!” when we were chilling in the lake, to “Hey Curtis, I have this idea to make a wooden horse for the kids to lasso at the boys’ birthday party. Can you make that happen??”, we could always rely on Curtis, no matter how small or large the ask was. The boys adored him- Curtis was endlessly patient with them and would play more games of “Monster” (a game that he made up) than any adult should have the capacity to endure. My heart breaks knowing that he’ll never get to take the boys hunting for the first time, like we always talked about. We lost a brother, friend, travel partner, golf buddy, story teller, care-taker, and most of all, a big part of the heart of our family. Hey Curtis- we’re so thankful for every memory we have with you and will miss you forever. Be sure to let us know if there are dinosaurs in heaven. ❤️

For as long as I can remember, Curtis has loved our lab Murphy. When he would come over to the house, we would catch him giving extra attention, pats, and treats to Murphy while our female lab and corgi gave him the stink eye.

Curtis was quite the handyman and he and Allen shared several adventures together, which always involved multiple trips to Lowes or Home Depot. In the time we have known Curtis, he has installed 3 new toilets at our house, put up 2 deck gates, grated out pea gravel in our backyard, helped sod the back where precious Murphy kept tromping, took apart and hauled away an elliptical and treadmill, and got a new hot water heater installed for us when it died while we were away. He was able to fix about anything and was a real perfectionist.

He and Allen shared several golf adventures on fabled golf trips. Curtis was as competitive as they come and would rag on you when you brought up taking a mulligan or following "McFarland Rules".

Our hearts tonight are very heavy and broken as we will miss our friend so much. We pray for strength and comfort for his wife Cari, son Mitchell, and the rest of the family. Know that he was dearly loved by all who had the opportunity to know him.

Curtis Kirby My Friend & My Brother, One Of Many Stories, Back In The Early 90s, Curtis Asked Me If I Would Ride To Court With Him In Wilson County & I Said Sure, He Would Have My Neck For Telling This Story LoL He Had Wrecked His Old Ford Truck ,So We Went To Court & He Had To Surrender His Drivers License For A Certain Length Of Time That Day , Well We Left & Curtis Drove Back When He Wasn't Supposed To Be Driving LoL & We Went Back Home To His Moms & Dads Place, We Were In Our Early 20s His Mom Had Made Some Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies & We Ate A Few & They Were Great With A Glass Of Milk !!! Well We Were There For A Little While & Left & Was Going Back To My House, We Were Driving On Highway 53 Bypass In Gordonsville Tennessee & We Came Up On A Roadblock With State Troopers & We Both Panicked Because Curtis Was Driving When He Wasn't Supposed To Be ,Lol We Pulled Into A Driveway Near Us & We Swapped Seats & I Was Driving, A Trooper Came Up To Check On Us & Asked Why We Pulled Over & We Said We Didn't Have Our Seatbelts On So He Asked Us To Follow Him Up To The Roadblock They Asked For Our Drivers License So I Give Them Mine Curtis Didn't Have Any On Him, Well They Checked Us Out & The Truck While We Had A Seat In The Patrol Car As They Checked My Drivers License Out, Well I Knew One Of The Troopers Mr. Vic Donoho He Said We Were Good All But My License Were Expired ,Oops Well They Wrote Me. A Ticket & Said He Would Drop It When I Got My License Renewed,They Couldn't Let Us Drive Off Because Of The Situation, So We Had A Friend Up The Road At His Body Shop Chad Brown Come & Get Us & Curtis's Maroon Lowrider Mazda We Were In !!! We Hung Out At His Shop For Awhile & We Drive On Over To My House In Town LoL !!! Curtis Lived With Us Our Door Was Always Open & He Was Family To Us & Like Our & My Little Brother Harold Third Brother !!! Curtis Was A Very Good Friend & Brother Who My Mom & Dad Consiered Their Third Son, He Would Do Anything To Help Anyone No Matter What !!! We're Gonna Miss You Terribly Old Friend & Brother, It Was Meant To Be For Us To Run In To Each Other At Burger King After We Had Took Our Sons Doctors Appointment, It Sure Was A Treat I Hugged Him & Told Him I Loved Him, We Talked For A Few Minutes & I Told Him It Was A Real Treat To See Him, I Just Couldn't Believe It Had Been Quite Sometime Since We Had Saw Each Other !!! I Know God Made That Happen & He Put Us Together As Family Once Again If It Was Only For Few Minutes, I Know It Was Meant To Be !!! I Love You Curtis You're Forever My Brother & Forever In My Heart Brother I Love You !!! Until We Meet In Heaven Again My Brother. !!! My Sincerest Condolences To Mr.Kirby , Mitchell Dale, Cari , Rob & Family & Family & Numerous Friends !!!

Curtis was one of the finest men I've ever know. We have worked together in so many different areas. Curtis was always ready willing and able to help out in any cause. He was the first one to show up when we started FAM Essentials to help us set up. He was so talented and could do anything however he was so modest about his abilities. When he mowed our yard there were times he'd leave the hospital and come straight to our house when he should have gone home and rested. I've asked him on more that one occasion to go do something that we were helping someone else out with and he would never allow me to pay him anything. Curtis, thank you for your friendship and your encouraging inspiration in how you lived your life. Can't wait to see you in Heaven. Jeff Hallums