Larkin Kirkman

A. Larkin Kirkman

At the time of his passing, we would like to share with you a little bit of who our father was. Larkin was born on October 4, 1937 in High Point, NC to Katharine Kirkman and O. Arthur Kirkman. The first of four children, two sisters and a brother followed, although not in that particular order. He lived in Puerto Rico for a short time at age 6 where he initially learned to speak a little Spanish.

Larkin attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Morehead scholar, graduating in 1959 with an A.B. in History. He was an Argonaut in the Order of the Golden Fleece, UNC's oldest and highest honor society composed of campus leaders and changemakers. It was while at UNC that he met Rosa, the love of his life, in an introductory poetry class. Throughout his life, he and Rosa could always make each other laugh. He completed his law degree at the University of Chicago in 1965, and that August was married to Rosa in High Point, NC at his childhood home. They then moved to California so Larkin could attend Leland Stanford Junior University in pursuit of his PhD in History which he was awarded in 1971. His dissertation was titled "Claudius Cantiuncula on the Office of the Magistrate." This work took him to Germany and Switzerland for several years. He developed a love of Basler Läckerli, a Christmas cookie, and later learned to make it. Läckerli became a Christmas family tradition with his recipe and notes passed down to the grandchildren.

During their time in California, Larkin and Rosa had two sons, Jacob and Nathan. Larkin taught for a time at Hayward State before moving to Blacksburg, VA in 1971 to teach Reformation History at Virginia Tech. He loved hiking in the mountains surrounding Blacksburg, and one summer hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to North Carolina before being rained out by a hurricane.

In 1976 Larkin decided to change careers and moved to Raleigh, NC in order to start practicing law. His entire career was spent helping those who were not able to help themselves. Many were juveniles and young adults. He devoted much of his time to the North Carolina Trails Association and Triangle Greenways. He spent many weekends over many years building much of the Falls Lake section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail with friends. Even late in life he still loved to build small trails on family land in the mountains of North Carolina. He had strong moral values and was a loyal philanthropic supporter of causes he believed in.

Larkin and Rosa hosted a number of foreign exchange students over the years and loved to travel abroad, as well as around the U.S. He visited all 50 states. They passed this love of travel along to both of their boys. Larkin also fostered a love of cycling in his older son, Jacob. When he was not building trails, Larkin spent many days cycling small county roads in Wake, Chatham, Johnson and Harnett counties on his three-speed with Jacob. He even survived several multiday, cross-state bicycle trips before giving up his wheels.

A life-long academic who loved to read, Larkin had an extensive library. He had an incredible memory for the precise location of each book and could often produce a book from his collection on most topics of discussion. He spoke passable Spanish and German, and he loved to sit and play the piano. He also loved star gazing and could give a good tour of the night sky, naming most of the constellations and many stars. He enjoyed sharing this with his grandchildren. He never quite mastered the use of computers and "the internet." He was known in the family for not being the best of drivers (luckily Rosa's driving genes prevailed). He had odd tastes: his favorite sandwich was a combination of blueberries and cream cheese. He was known to ALWAYS clean his plate. As our parents' world began to shrink, they came to rely on Cantina 18 for almost every dinner they ate.

They enjoyed the food and treasured the staff - and Larkin LOVED she-crab soup. If Cantina 18 had not kept she-crab soup on the menu especially for him, he may have withered away five years earlier! 

Larkin's wish to remain in his home until he passed away was made possible by the compassionate, attentive help of family, friends and neighbors, caregivers from Right At Home, and Transitions Life Care.

Larkin passed away on October 27, 2025, with his wife Rosa at his side in his home in Raleigh, NC. He is survived by his wife, Rosa; his two sons, Jacob (Angela) and Nathan (Beth Gulewich); three grandchildren, Max and Nina (Nathan & Beth) and Adrian (Jacob & Angela); sister Caroline McGuinn (Bill), brother John Kirkman (Constance Gerard), and sister Susan Huneycutt (Charlie); as well as numerous nieces, nephews and extended family.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to UNC-Chapel Hill University Libraries or your favorite charity. Although no funeral is planned, we would love to hear any memories or stories you wish to share.