James Larkin Kirtley
James Larkin Kirtley
James Larkin Kirtley
1931-2025
James Larkin Kirtley was born October 1, 1931 to Charles Chester Kirtley and Luella Elizabeth (Thornberry) Kirtley on the family farm near Union Star, Missouri. He was the third out of five sons. He attended Liberty school (a one room school) for his younger grades and graduated from Union Star High School. He passed away May 29, 2025.
After high school he attended and graduated from Bryan College, Dayton, Tennessee, with a biology degree in 1953. He graduated from the Central Baptist Seminary on May 10, 1956.
He met his future wife, Edythe Laverne Kirtley, at Bryan College and they were married on August 6, 1955. They had three children, Elton Chester Kirtley, Joy Laverne Kirtley, and Edgar Larkin Kirtley.
While in college, he felt the call to be to a pastor. After seminary, his first church was in Fillmore, Missouri. From there we moved to Cambria, Iowa where he pastored the Baptist Church.
In 1964, he felt called to Pioneer Missions in Anaconda, Montana to start a church and a few years later, built the Montana Haggin Baptist Church, just west of Anaconda. He also pastored Beaverhead Baptist Church, Dillon, Montana and was associate pastor for a couple of years at the Floral Street Baptist Church in Butte, Montana. While there, he was also the BSU Director (a student organization) at Montana Tech. Most of his years of pastoring were spent in Montana.
He also pastored churches in Missouri including Whitesville Baptist, Hopkins First Baptist Church, Darlington Baptist Church, and Maple Grove Baptist Church.
He loved being outdoors whether hiking and hunting in the mountains of Montana, or clearing trails, cutting firewood, or hunting in the “Big Woods” of Missouri (his backyard). He was a man of few words but dedicated to God’s call.
He had ten grandchildren: Sarah, Josiah, Jared, Hannah, John David, Naomi, Anna, Daniel, Beka, and Nathan, and 30 great-grandchildren.
Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, June 7, at the First Baptist Church, King City, Missouri under the direction of Roberson Funeral Home, King City. Burial will follow in the Union Star Cemetery, Union Star, Missouri. The family will receive friends from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Saturday at the church. Memorials may be made to Mission Dignity in care of Roberson Funeral Home, PO Box 153, King City, MO 64463. Online condolences may be left at www.robersonfuneralhome.com.
