Andrea Jeanne Lair-Kirby

Andrea Lair-Kirby passed away September 21 surrounded by the people she loved after a hard fought battle against melanoma. Andrea Jeanne Lair was born on July 28, 1963 in Coronado, California to RADM Jim and Jackie Lair. Raised in Lemoore, California, Andrea was a member of the 4H club and fell in love with softball, playing in Bobby Sox championship games in Buena, California.

In 1981, Andrea attended Villanova University in Philadelphia and became an Academic, All-American softball pitcher while pursuing her nursing degree. After graduating in 1985, Andrea began her career in nursing, eventually becoming a charge nurse in the intensive care unit at Virginia Beach General Hospital. She married Robert "Bob" Kirby Jr. in 1989 and welcomed her first daughter, Elizabeth, in 1993 and a second, Jacqueline, in 1996.

After moving to Grapevine, Texas in 1999, Andrea raised her daughters under the lights of the softball fields in Oak Grove Park. Andrea coached Grapevine recreational softball teams for over a decade, long after her own two daughters had grown, and had a passion for teaching valuable life lessons on the field.

In 2011, Andrea was diagnosed with melanoma and given six months to live. Andrea defied incredible odds, defeating melanoma multiple times and living for another 8 years, long enough to see her two daughters graduate college and start successful lives of their own.

Andrea is remembered for her incredible courage, unmatched sense of humor (usually off color!), endless generosity, and love for her girls. She adored horses and dogs and was an avid rescuer of Dobermans. In the warmer months, she enjoyed gardening and struggling to grow vegetables in unfavorable Texas conditions.

Andrea leaves behind two beautiful daughters, Elizabeth and Jacqueline Kirby, her parents, RADM Jim and Jackie Lair, USN Ret., her sister and her husband, Jennifer and Brad Snyder, her beloved nephews, Nathan and Bradley Snyder, her cherished niece, Nicole Uhrich, Nicole's husband, Frank Uhrich, and her treasured great nieces, Madalynn and Lilyanna Uhrich.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made in Andrea's name Doberman Rescue of North Texas or the Lee Haggard Scholarship which provides scholarships for Grapevine girls to play softball.
Doberman Rescue donation page: http://dobermanrescue.org/donate.html

To donate to the Lee Haggard Scholarship, please write a check out to "Friends of GBS" and place the memo of the check "Lee Haggard Scholarship." Mail the checks to the attention of Sasha Haverkamp or drop them off to the REC Center to Sasha's attention.

Mailing address for Lee Haggard Scholarship:

The REC of Grapevine
Attn: Sasha Haverkamp
1175 Municipal Way
Grapevine, TX 76051"