Ina (about 1935/36)
At Left -Teenager
INA HUGHES KIRKMAN, 1893-1986, born March 14, 1893, in Seneca, Kansas, youngest of J. W. and Sarah's family. She married Clarence Kirkman, June 28, 1914, and they built a beautiful home on the shores of Lake Whatcom, near Bellingham, Washington. The biggest part of their married life was spent on the lakeshore but in later life when it became difficult for them to keep the place up, they moved into town, close to shopping.
Aunt Ina was a powerhouse individual who dedicated her life to education, both in teaching and providing administrative drive to new programs and growth of the Bellingham Normal School, now Western Washington University. When I came to Bellingham, in 1933, she had just won a battle with the Dean to form and supervise a class for special need students in the student teaching section. Her attitude was that the Normal was her school and she would see that it prospered and served the public need.
Aunt Ina worked and served her love for education until the ravages of arthritis forced retirement. She was one of the first to undergo hip replacement surgery, which was not too successful. Aunt Ina was in much pain in later years but managed to take care of herself in her little apartment in Sumas after Clarence died.
She and Clarence had no children of their own, but their willingness to provide a home for, and to help various nieces and nephews, is fondly remembered by many of us who benefited from their generosity. Not only were they there with a helping hand and a place to stay when needed; but also she assumed responsibility for seeing that the kids of her Montana brother got education that would be otherwise unavailable to them. My brother, Lewis, lived with the Kirkmans and went to school in Bellingham for at least two years, graduating from Bellingham High. Marjorie lived with them for two years of schooling. I stayed with the Kirkman's for one school term, 1933-34, and went to the Normal college. Lewis and Midge came out after Lewis's Fort Peck accident and stayed with them for a short time so Midge could get enough credits at the Normal school for a Montana teaching certificate. I'll never forget how tickled Aunt Ina was when Naomi and I picked her up to attend our son, Bob’s graduation from "her" school in 1965. Aunt Ina had gone on by the time our granddaughter graduated; but I hope she knows that the work she did on Seahome Hill is helping Hughes kids get an education several generations later.
by: R R (Bob) Hughes (1.6.4), May, 1999