Eulogy for Daniel Kirkendall

February 25, 2023

By John Partridge

Daniel Kirkendall lived a life that made him indispensable to the people around him.  He did anything and everything to help anyone who needed it.  At church he could be found volunteering to serve food or run games at our annual community carnival, and had a good time doing it.  At home, he did just about everything.  When he lived out west, he cared for his former in-laws, and after they passed, and he retired, he moved back to Alliance.

Not everyone would move home as an adult and move back into their parents’ house to help out, but Daniel did.  He was there to take out the trash, walk down the hill (and back up again) to collect the mail, mow the lawn, shovel snow, work on cars, help with grocery shopping or cooking, all around handyman (and could fix anything), and just about anything else that his mom needed.  In fact, Sharon told me that they had fun together going to the grocery store even if they occasionally “lost” one another.

Daniel had a good heart, liked going to church, loved riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle, he genuinely liked cooking, and he loved his dog Zizz.

We struggle with the hole that his departure leaves in our lives.  He would be bothered by leaving behind unfinished business.  He had more life to live and more help to give.  He had already given Jeff a guitar, and he wanted to teach him how to play it.  But his passing is a painful reminder that our world is broken.  Moments like this just feel wrong.  Parents should never have to bury their children.  And we can find words in scripture that echo those feelings almost exactly.  Since the fall of Adam and Eve, our world has been filled with pain, suffering, violence, sin, and death. 

But we have hope. 

We have hope because God has promised that our world will not always be this way.  We cling to the promise of God, and our hope in Jesus Christ.  We know that one day Jesus will return and fix what has been broken, set things right again, and return the world to the way that God intended so that once again there is no mourning, crying, pain, or death.  But until that day, we know that Daniel walks with Jesus and we wonder if Jesus likes Harley Davidson motorcycles.  Because of Daniel’s faith in Jesus, and because of ours, we look forward to being reunited with him when our days here on earth also come to an end.

Today we mourn because Daniel did many things for many people, and especially for his parents.  We mourn because we will miss his tender heart and his love for his family, his church, and the people around him.  We can never replace the love that we have lost. But we look forward to the day when we are reunited, when mourning ends and joy returns, and we are comforted because we know where Daniel is, and we know that he is happy, and walking with Jesus.

As it says in Matthew 24, as the women were looking for Jesus in the garden tomb, they encountered two angels who said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”  Daniel isn’t here.  He isn’t in this box, but he is alive with Jesus.  And we are confident that one day we will see him again.

Obituary for Daniel W. Kirkendall

  Daniel W. Kirkendall, age 62, of Alliance, died at Mercy Medical Center Monday, February 13, 2023.

He was born October 18, 1960 in Alliance, Ohio to Jerry L. Kirkendall and Sharon K. (Ullman) Kirkendall Riddle.

Daniel attended Alliance High School and Amarillo Community College.

 Daniel drove truck for many years, before retiring from A.E.P.

He was a member of Christ United Methodist Church and enjoyed cars, especially Corvettes.   Daniel could fix anything and liked playing the guitar and riding his Harley Davidson.

Survivors include his mother, Sharon (Casey) Riddle; special friend, Barbara Lung; uncle, Michael (Jeanne) Ullman; half-sister, Heather Kirkendall Trent; aunt, Patty (Russ) Heacock; niece, Alyssa (Kevin Gibbons) Kirkendall; great niece, Cheyenne Gibbons; great nephew, Jeff Gibbons; as well as other nieces, nephews, and cousins; and his beloved dog, Zizz.

He was preceded in death by father; grandparents, Wade and Geneva Ullman; brother, Jeffrey Kirkendall, aunt, Virginia Ottle, and uncle, Joseph O. Ullman.

A Memorial Service will be held 1 p.m. Saturday, February 25, 2023 at the Alliance City Cemetery Chapel with Pastor John Partridge officiating.

Memorial Contributions may be made to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 E. Broadway, Alliance OH 44601. 

Arrangements are by Cassaday-Turkle-Christian Funeral Home, 75 S. Union Ave., Alliance, OH 44601.

Friends may register online at http://www.ctcfuneral.com.