Sheila McKenna Kirby

Sheila Frances McKenna Kirby was born December 13, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois and died peacefully at home in Catonsville, Maryland on September 16, 2022.

Known to friends and family as “Mimi”, she was the eldest of four sisters. She spent her childhood years on Lake Michigan in the heart of Chicago. Later as a young teenager, she and her family relocated to Paoli, Pennsylvania.

She modeled for several years as a member of the Model’s Guild of Philadelphia doing runway shows for Bill Blass in the United States and Italy. She was featured in magazines such as Good Housekeeping, various newspapers, catalogs, and even appeared in an episode of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood to model bridal wear!

She met the love of her life in the fall of 1963, Joseph Starr (Bo) Kirby, Jr. (deceased). They were married on July 25th, 1964 at her family home in Newton Square, Pennsylvania. They lived in Baltimore for a few years before a job with Westinghouse relocated them to Pittsburgh where she raised a family in her beloved Sewickley, Pennsylvania.

Mimi loved swimming, playing tennis, paddle, and duck pin bowling at the Edgeworth Club. She volunteered for Child Health, worked at Talbot’s, and she was a Eucharistic Minister at St. James Catholic Church. She enjoyed gardening, reading and was the “ultimate” cheerleader for any sports that her children and grandchildren played. She also loved football…first the Steelers and then came to love the Ravens. She was fiercely independent, very private, and loved her family beyond measure.

Mimi is survived by three children: son Robert “Bob” J. Kirby and two daughters Katherine Kirby Jaudon and her husband Scott Jaudon, Sheila Kirby Donovan and her husband Daniel Donovan. She is also survived by her 7 grandchildren: Hope (Kirby) Townsend, Hannah Kirby, Chase Kirby, Adam Jaudon, Sam Jaudon, Joe Donovan and Margaret Donovan. Mimi is also survived by one sister, Shannon Mckenna and many other close relatives.

In lieu of flowers, her children request donations be made in Mimi’s memory to:

stjude.org or smallmiraclesrescue.org

Per her wishes, there is no public funeral. A private interment will be held at a later date for her children and their families.

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