Journey to His Past

Kirk's maternal grandfather, Bertrand 'Bert' Francis Corcoran, died of a heart attack on 21 July 1959 in Elk Rapids, Antrim, Michigan.  Bert and his wife, Leona, were in Elk Rapids visiting his daughter, Elizabeth 'Betty', and her husband Jim (Kirk's parents).  Jim was on a temporary assignment for Western Electric at the time.

Kirk remembers the days before his grandfather's death as fun.  His grandfather was a very generous person.  He would talk to his grandchildren and was fun to be with.  Whenever Grandpa Corcoran came to visit he would slap a silver dollar in his grandchildren's hands.  That week Grandpa Corcoran had taken Kirk and his brother and sisters to a dime store type store and the kids got to buy a toy.

The morning of Bert's death was a sunny, summer day.  Kirk, who was eight at the time, remembers the family eating hamburgers on the screened-in porch.  While Bert was eating he started having problems.  He went inside to lay down and an ambulance was called.  The kids were kept on the porch while the paramedics attended to Bert, so they wouldn't see anything.  But kids being kids, they peeked through a window.  Kirk remembers the paramedics plunging a hypodermic needle into his grandfather's chest before being told to get away from the window.  Bert died shortly afterwards at the age of 56.

Below is the obituary for Bertrand Francis Corcoran (7 Jan 1903-21 Jul 1959).  Bertrand was the son of Timothy Francis Corcoran and Helen (Schmitt) Corcoran.