{"id":144,"date":"2015-03-31T01:08:46","date_gmt":"2015-03-31T01:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/?p=144"},"modified":"2017-01-09T02:27:22","modified_gmt":"2017-01-09T02:27:22","slug":"100-things-about-william-alexander-buck-kirkland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/?p=144","title":{"rendered":"100 Things about William Alexander “Buck” Kirkland"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Buck-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 William Alexander Kirkland was born on 14 March 1913.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 He was born in Durham, North Carolina.<\/p>\n

3\/4.\u00a0 His parents were Laurance Davies Kirkland and Susie Augusta Coley Kirkland.<\/p>\n

5\/6.\u00a0 He had 2 older siblings:\u00a0 Laurance Davies “Sonny” Kirkland Jr and Mary Rebecca “Mimi” Kirkland.<\/p>\n

\"Buck-40\"<\/a><\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 He was the only one of the three Kirkland siblings born at the “new” Watts Hospital.\u00a0 (His son and granddaughter were also born at Watts Hospital.)<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0 My uncle Sonny said my grandfather was the one who dubbed him Sonny and Mary Mimi.\u00a0 (Mary’s friends called her Mary Kirk)<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 Granddad’s nickname was Buck.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0 He grew up at the house at 516 Holloway Street.<\/p>\n

\"Buck-38\"<\/a><\/p>\n

11.\u00a0 His grandmother Mary Margaret Mock Coley lived with the family when he was growing up.<\/p>\n

12.\u00a0 For a time, so did a cousin — Margaret Brock.<\/p>\n

13\/14.\u00a0 Granddad graduated from Durham High School in 1930.<\/p>\n

15.\u00a0 Granddad and I were the same height when we graduated high school.<\/p>\n

16.\u00a0 Granddad had beautiful handwriting.\u00a0\u00a0 Mom and I always ooh and aah over it.\u00a0 His great-granddaughter Coley has similar handwriting.<\/p>\n

17\/18.\u00a0 Granddad had dark brown hair and blue eyes.<\/p>\n

19\/20.\u00a0 Granddad went to Davidson College and graduated in 1934.<\/p>\n

21.\u00a0 Dean Rusk was a senior when my grandfather came in as a freshman.<\/p>\n

22.\u00a0 Granddad was a member of Davidson’s ROTC.<\/p>\n

23.\u00a0 His senior year he was a member of Scabbard & Blade, a military fraternity.<\/p>\n

\"Buck-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

24.\u00a0 He went to a military training camp either during his time at Davidson or just after graduation (mentioned in a letter written by Sonny to their mother.)<\/p>\n

25.\u00a0 Granddad was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha.<\/p>\n

26.\u00a0 Granddad was on the PanHellenic Council.<\/p>\n

27\/28\/29\/30.\u00a0 Granddad played basketball for his fraternity.\u00a0 In 1933\u00a0 his team won the Davidson inter-fraternity basketball championship.\u00a0 He played forward (must’ve been a very short team).\u00a0 He scored 4 of the team’s 36 points.<\/p>\n

31.\u00a0 Granddad had to wear a silly beanie his freshman year.\u00a0 So glad Davidson did away with that!\u00a0 LOL\u00a0 Anyway, tradition was that the freshmen would burn their beanies.\u00a0 Not Granddad.\u00a0 He kept his.\u00a0 Dad has it displayed on a bookshelf.<\/p>\n

32.\u00a0 One of his college friends was Dallas “Dal” Wehner<\/p>\n

\"Buck-17\"<\/a><\/p>\n

33.\u00a0 He was ELECTED football manager for the 1933 season.<\/p>\n

34.\u00a0 He served on the Athletic Council his senior year.<\/p>\n

35.\u00a0 He was the secretary-class treasurer of his senior class.<\/p>\n

36.\u00a0 His thoughts on education at Davidson College:\u00a0 “The first four years are the hardest.”\u00a0 I do believe that everyone who goes to Davidson would wholeheartedly agree with this.<\/p>\n

37. A Miss Laura Lyon of Durham was his date to a formal dance that was sponsored by the PanHellenic Council.<\/p>\n

38.\u00a0 Joe Bryant once sat on Granddad’s glasses.\u00a0 Miraculously they did not break, but the lenses fell out of the frames.\u00a0 Granddad put the lenses back in like it was no big deal.<\/p>\n

39. Granddad, Joe Drake and John Hunter apparently were caught in an embarrassing situation at a shindig in Charlotte.\u00a0 The Davidsonian made no mention of what they did, but did suggest that people to ask them about why their faces were question mark red.\u00a0 Hmmmmm….<\/p>\n

\"Buck<\/a><\/p>\n

40. Granddad was one of three appointed to “investigate prices and select a tailor” for the making of the senior blazers.<\/p>\n

41\/42.\u00a0 Granddad was ranked 43rd in his class.\u00a0 He maintained an 85 or higher thru at least the first half of his senior year.<\/p>\n

43.\u00a0 Granddad was a member of the Davidson ROTC unit that won the R.O.T.C Cup in 1933, defeating 17 other schools.<\/p>\n

44.\u00a0 His R.O.T.C. rank at the time was 2nd Lieutenant of Company C.<\/p>\n

45\/46.\u00a0 Granddad married Helon Clark Wilkerson on August 27, 1938.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

47.\u00a0 They lived at J-2-B University Apartments.<\/p>\n

48.\u00a0 Granddad was Sec-Treas of the Durham Merchants Assoc for over 25 years.\u00a0 He was honored for his 25 years with the DMA with dinner, a check and a car.<\/p>\n

49.\u00a0 In 1940, he earned $2,700 as the Sec-Treas of the Durham Merchants Association<\/p>\n

\"Buck-22\"<\/a><\/p>\n

50.\u00a0 In 1940, his son Bill was born (my dad!)<\/p>\n

51.\u00a0 His address in 1940 was 1104 Englewood Ave.<\/p>\n

52\/53\/54.\u00a0 He was 5’7, 160 pounds and had a ruddy complexion when he registered for the draft.<\/p>\n

55.\u00a0 In 1960 he was executive v-pres and treasurer of the Durham Merchant’s Assoc.<\/p>\n

56.\u00a0 In 1966 his granddaughter was born.\u00a0 (ME!)<\/p>\n

57.\u00a0 In 1969 his grandson was born.\u00a0 (Kirk!)<\/p>\n

58.\u00a0 He and my uncle Al had some joke about chimps.\u00a0 Wish I knew the beginnings.\u00a0 They would laugh about the various calendars and pictures and cards they would find.<\/p>\n

59.\u00a0 Granddad was left-handed.<\/p>\n

\"Buck<\/a><\/p>\n

60\/61\/62.\u00a0 Granddad had a cement goldfish pond in his backyard.\u00a0 Kirk and I gave him one of those pop-eyed goldfish.\u00a0 Granddad named it Count Pulaski.<\/p>\n

63.\u00a0 Granddad liked irises.\u00a0 Mom has the “descendents” of some of his purple irises in her yard.<\/p>\n

64.\u00a0 Granddad was a smoker.\u00a0 Don’t ask me what he smoked.\u00a0 I just remember that he did.\u00a0 Of course everyone in Durham did.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

65.\u00a0 Granddad drank a lot of Tab or at least kept a bunch in the bottom of the pantry.<\/p>\n

66.\u00a0 I swear all his polo style shirts had penguins on them.<\/p>\n

67.\u00a0 He liked to laugh.\u00a0 He had an infectious laugh.<\/p>\n

68\/69.\u00a0 Granddad took daily walks around the neighborhood.\u00a0 He talked to everyone he ran into, sometimes for extended periods of time.\u00a0 Not sure that you could count his walks as exercise.<\/p>\n

\"Buck-44<\/a><\/p>\n

70\/71.\u00a0 My grandparents had a black poodle named Charlie who was really smart.\u00a0 He would “write letters” to me and my brother on every telephone pole he passed.\u00a0 Of course Granddad would “read” the letters to us as we couldn’t read poodle.<\/p>\n

72.\u00a0 He once told me the only thing he could cook was a steak and it was luck if the steak turned out edible.<\/p>\n

73.\u00a0 During the winter he would bring his goldfish indoors from the goldfish pond.\u00a0 I can remember them being in his bathtub one time because his fish tank had a crack in it.<\/p>\n

74.\u00a0 Ed Swindell was one of his good friends.\u00a0 Mr. and Mrs. Swindell lived across the street from my grandparents when I was growing up.<\/p>\n

75.\u00a0 Granddad played golf.\u00a0 Not that I remember him ever playing.\u00a0 I just remember my dad, my brother and my aunt Marie playing.<\/p>\n

76.\u00a0 Granddad told me to call Uncle Sonny “Senior Citizen” when he turned 65.\u00a0 Sonny was not amused in the least.\u00a0 Sonny had some stern words for me.\u00a0 Granddad just laughed and laughed.<\/p>\n

77.\u00a0 Granddad had me convinced for a time that the Lazy Susan was named after my cousin Susan.\u00a0 (Uncle Al had me believing that black-eyes Susans were also named after her.)<\/p>\n

78.\u00a0 Granddad raised chickens.\u00a0 I’m still a bit confused as to where he kept them in town.<\/p>\n

79.\u00a0 Granddad had a little farm outside of town.<\/p>\n

80.\u00a0 Sonny once told me that the only deer Granddad ever bagged was one that he accidentally hit with his car.<\/p>\n

\"Buck-31\"<\/a><\/p>\n

81.\u00a0 Granddad once commented that he knew business was good, because he had two suits.<\/p>\n

82.\u00a0 He jokingly called my brother Billy Buck.<\/p>\n

83.\u00a0 Grandmom and Mom took me shopping one time, and of course I had to try on all the clothes and show everyone what I had gotten.\u00a0 Granddad sang, “Here she comes…\u00a0 Miss America….” as I walked into the den to “model”.<\/p>\n

84.\u00a0 Granddad’s favorite hymn was “Amazing Grace.”<\/p>\n

85.\u00a0 He was a member of Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church .<\/p>\n

86.\u00a0 He was a member of the George Watts Sunday School Class and\u00a0 attended Sunday School regularly.<\/p>\n

87.\u00a0 He was a history major at Davidson<\/p>\n

88.\u00a0 He earned a letter sweater for being the football manager (I didn’t get one though.\u00a0 Hmmph)<\/p>\n

89.\u00a0 He was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa or ODK or “the Circle”, which is a national leadership honor society.\u00a0 It is considered to be one of the highest collegiate honors to be a member of the ODK…\u00a0 up there with membership as a Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa (Sonny was a Phi Beta Kappa)<\/p>\n

\"Buck-25\"<\/a><\/p>\n

90.\u00a0\u00a0 Enthusiastic member of the Lions Club.<\/p>\n

91. He loved investing in the stock market (which could explain his stockpile of Tab if he owned stock in that company).<\/p>\n

92.\u00a0 He loved his poker games with his longtime friends.\u00a0 (Kirk now has his poker chips.\u00a0 His great-grandchildren play War with his cards).<\/p>\n

93.\u00a0 He hatched chicken eggs in his house.\u00a0 IN HIS HOUSE!<\/p>\n

94.\u00a0 He had to remove potatoes from the tub in order to bathe his grandchildren.\u00a0 (My grandparents had 2 bathrooms and thus two tubs, but clearly either Kirk or I wanted to use his tub.\u00a0 Grandchildren!)<\/p>\n

95.\u00a0 At church he was known for his enthusiastic singing.\u00a0 (His son and grandchildren will bust out in song for no apparent reason, so this trait has definitely been passed along.\u00a0 Just ask my children.\u00a0 They will beg you to not get me started.)<\/p>\n

96.\u00a0 He was frugal.<\/p>\n

97.\u00a0 He was unpretentious.<\/p>\n

98.\u00a0 When Granddad laughed, he would rear back with his arms across his chest.<\/p>\n

99. \u00a0 Granddad died on 14 April 1978.\u00a0 Kirk, two friends and I were watching M.A.S.H. when the phone call came.<\/p>\n

100.\u00a0 His life had touched so many others that there was standing room only for his funeral.<\/p>\n

\"Buck-24\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1.\u00a0 William Alexander Kirkland was born on 14 March 1913. 2.\u00a0 He was born in Durham, North Carolina. 3\/4.\u00a0 His parents were Laurance Davies Kirkland and Susie Augusta Coley Kirkland. 5\/6.\u00a0 He had 2 older siblings:\u00a0 Laurance Davies “Sonny” Kirkland Jr and Mary Rebecca “Mimi” Kirkland. 7.\u00a0 He was the only one of the three … Continue reading 100 Things about William Alexander “Buck” Kirkland<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","hentry","category-the-kirkland-family","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157,"href":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions\/157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bbq-n-grits.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}