American Kidney Fund Mourns Loss of Former Board Chairman Stan Kirtley

American Kidney Fund
Friday, 30 January 2004

Former American Kidney Fund Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman Stan Kirtley died of an apparent stroke on January 26. He was 49. Kirtley led the Fund from 2001 to 2003 and remained active on the BOT until his death.

A drafting teacher at Kirtley's high school on the south side of Chicago encouraged Kirtley and several of his friends to think about a career in engineering. Originally attracted to architecture, Stan chose the field of civil engineering at Purdue, while his high school friends majored in various engineering programs at the university. The group founded the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) in April of 1975, the year Kirtley graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree (in 1995, Kirtley obtained his MBA with Distinction from the Keller Graduate School of Management).

Kirtley's career included positions with Procter and Gamble, Ford Motor Company, Ameritech, ASC Services Company, and ReSourcing Services Company.

In 1986, Kirtley attended a "standing room only" event and by the end of the day noticed that his feet, ankles, and face were quite swollen. He consulted his physician who gave him a blood and urine test. The tests confirmed that Kirtley's kidneys were failing. He was 32.

Kirtley recalled, "I was completely shocked…I was told that treatment would just delay the progression of the disease, not cure it." After the determination was made that he was a good candidate for a kidney transplant, Kirtley traveled from Chicago to Wisconsin, where the transplant waiting list was shorter. He received a kidney from a cadavaric donor just six months after he began dialysis.

In 1989, Kirtley was invited to play in the American Kidney Fund Chicago Golf Tournament by a business associate who was also a kidney patient. Shortly thereafter, Kirtley began serving on the Fund's volunteer regional council. By 1994, he was elected to the Fund's national Board of Trustees, where his warmth, good humor, and leadership contributed greatly to the ongoing success of the Fund. Kirtley was also active in a variety of community and industry organizations.

American Kidney Fund Executive Director Karen Sendelback said, "Stan's passing leaves an enormous void in the lives of everyone who knew him. His perspective as a patient and transplant recipient - combined with his business acumen and humanity - made Stan uniquely qualified as an American Kidney Fund volunteer and as a leader. He will be greatly missed."

Kirtley is survived by his wife Emma, of Crete, Illinois and two sons, Stan Jr. and Richard.

For more information, or to contact American Kidney Fund, see their website at: www.akfinc.org