John married Rebecca Grey Trent of Durham in 1965. They both had successful medical careers that aligned with one another.

John graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in 1968. He and Rebecca moved to Houston, Texas where John began his training in Pediatrics. After completing his residency, he spent six months at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children and Guy’s Hospital in London. With his return to Houston, John began a fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology under Professor George W. Clayton, who had trained with Dr. Lawson Wilkins at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Wilkins is called the father of Pediatric Endocrinology.

Instead of being drafted in the armed forces after college, John was enrolled in the Berry Plan which allowed him to finish his training before entering the military. He was stationed at the Philadelphia Naval Base and participated once a week in medical rounds at Temple University Hospital with another great Pediatric Endocrinologist, Dr. Angelo DiGeorge. Towards the end of John’s tenure in the Navy, he spent several months in Yokosuka, Japan where two aircraft carriers were at the ready to help evacuate troops from a falling Vietnam.

After John’s discharge from the Navy, he again returned to Houston and began a Fellowship in Molecular Endocrinology with Dr. George Stancel in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Texas. This was a very productive time for him. He joined Pediatric Endocrinology in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. John became a full Professor of Pediatrics with his work in teaching, research, and service. His career focused on endocrine disorders of children including thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, and gonadal problems, as well as bone and metabolic disorders including diabetes. As a professor, he was an excellent teacher of medical students, interns, residents, and fellows.

John loved his large dogs. First, a German Shepherd who was a wedding gift from Dr. Cal Callaway at Duke Medical Center. Subsequently, John had two Dobermans that he’d hitch up to his bicycle every morning for a run. The dogs would be on each side and pull him to the park. He would sit up on the bike seat with arms folded and traffic would stop to watch the spectacle. His other pastimes included playing tennis and he was an avid windsurfer on the Columbia River in Oregon.

Throughout John’s medical career, his favorite hobby was flying airplanes. He had single, multiengine, and commercial ratings. He flew out of Hobby Airport in Houston. He also enjoyed classical music and would “conduct” while listening with a baton given to him by a friend.

The Kirkland family history includes this fact: According to The Durham Morning Herald, 1976, John’s grandfather, John Lindsey Kirkland, was appointed in 1890, with two other men, as the first postmen in Durham, NC, at the inauguration of postal carrier service for the area.

Dr. Kirkland is predeceased in death by his parents, Margaret Battle Kirkland, originally from Rocky Mount, and John Lindsey Kirkland, Jr, a Durham native, and his sister, Sara Kirkland Purcell of Mt. Pleasant, S.C. He is survived by his wife, Rebecca, and his niece, Katharine Purcell, and nephews, Jimmy with his son Jimmy, and Michael Purcell (Trish Hutchison), with daughters, Anne Claire and Maehler, of Mt. Pleasant, SC. as well as his brother-in-law, James Purcell.

Dr. Kirkland’s memorial will be scheduled at a later date. In lieu of flowers, if you wish to make a donation in his memory, he admired the University of North Carolina’s Department of Applied Mathematics, The Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University and Alzheimer’s Research in the Department of Neurology at Duke Medical Center.