Gladys Erlene Tate Kirk | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Gladys Erlene Tate Kirk, age 92, a resident of the Pamlico Beach Community in Belhaven, NC passed away peacefully at her home on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.

    Mrs. Kirk was born to the late David Samuel Tate and the late Lucy Bette Cornelius Tate in Belhaven, NC on August 18, 1929. She was a graduate of John A. Wilkinson High School in Belhaven, NC. She married the love of her life, the late Wesley Albert "Peepsie" Kirk, Sr., on October 27, 1947.

    The first years of her married life were spent becoming a mother and raising her six children and (with the help of her husband) building a home to accommodate all. She was a seamstress for many years at the Belhaven Garment Company and then the Down East Garment Company, both in Belhaven. She would sew clothes for her girls, and later, her grandchildren would sport one of a kinds made especially for them by Grandma Gladys. Then, aside from her gardening duties and making sure she touched every plant and flower in her yard with her meticulous green thumb, she worked as a commercial fisherwoman with her love on the FV "Gladys Dawn".

    Mrs. Kirk is also known for her amazing display of Christmas lights. She would start decorating in September when the weather was still warm, and by Thanksgiving, things would be pretty well lit up on Wrights Creek when she flipped that switch on for the first time. People would drive from miles around to see her lights, handmade wooden displays, and even Santa and his reindeer flying in the sky. She was notorious for climbing trees to hang the wires for such displays as well as climbing on the rooftop to make a repair or clean out the chimney flue.

    If you knew Gladys, you knew she loved her pictures. She dedicated an entire room in her house to them...a whole wall of nothing but picture albums. If you'd see her out and about, you either saw her drag out her camera to snap a shot of you, or she'd pull out pictures she had taken to show them off. She was very proud of her family and enjoyed bragging on them through her pictures.

    She was a member of the Wades Point Pentecostal Holiness Church where she was also a Sunday School Teacher. Her faith brought her through many trials, and there wasn't a day that she didn't pray for her family and her community. She never failed to thank God for His many blessings before each and every meal. Many times, her Christmas gift of birthday gift to her loved ones was a meal prepared by her giving and loving hands. And what a meal it would be!

    Along with her parents and her "Sweetheart", Mrs. Kirk was predeceased by her sons, Andy Samuel Kirk, Wesley Albert Kirk, Jr. and Clyde Willis Kirk; grandsons, Thomas Jackson "T.J." Kirk and Andy Filmore Kirk; seven brothers and one sister.

    Mrs. Kirk is survived by her son, Thomas Jackson "Tommy" Kirk and wife Myrtle; daughters, Veda Jane Potter and husband Johnny, Dawn Kirk Hudnell and husband Anthony, all of Pamlico Beach; three sisters, Julie Respass of Bath, Joyce Daniels of Pamlico Beach, and Lorene Moores of Washington; 15 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren and 5 great great grandchildren.

    Funeral services will be held 1:00 pm, Saturday, April 30, 2022 at Wades Point Pentecostal Holiness Church in Pamlico Beach, Belhaven, NC followed by a graveside at Ryder Hill Cemetery in Pamlico Beach. The Reverend Dean Fulford will officiate. Pallbearers include grandsons: John Potter, Michael Potter, Timmy Kirk, Shane Kirk, George Hopkins, Ryan Hopkins and Tyler Kirk. Honorary pallbearers include grandsons: Conway Potters, Joey Kirk, and Zachary Kirk. A visitation with the family will follow at the church fellowship hall.

    Joseph B. Paul, Jr. Funeral Service is honored to assist the Kirk family.