On Feb. 8, 2026, our coffee group president-for-life, Dick Kirby, resigned his position. The shock was profound, since we all knew his term would run at least six more years. Rare for any such association, this bunch meets most days of the week (and recently every day) from 2:30-4 at the former Gourmet Provence, now Morningside Bakery. Dick Kirby was a regular, though normally he arrived late following lunch-time desk duty at the Brandon Artists’ Guild, aka the BAG. (Dick’s metal-working skills were well known in the community, and thus his BAG affiliation.)

Hastily conducted research indicates that this gathering has its roots in a coffee gang whimsically named “Sick, Lame, and Lazy” that once met at the former Smoke Rise Restaurant north of town and still gathers weekly in Forest Dale. The present Brandon offshoot came to be in the early 2000s when Dick Kirby and several others with BAG ties sat down over coffee at the Ball & Chain Café above the Briggs Carriage Bookstore on Park Street. (The business has ultimately evolved into The Bookstore on Conant Square.)

Nelson Richard Kirby’s life was richly textured, and some of its many twists and turns were soon apparent even to a newcomer like this writer who arrived only in 2019. A lingering accent gave away his roots in Lynn, Mass., where Dick was born and educated. It was soon learned, too, that as a young man he had worked as a fireman on a steam locomotive, and he had stories that drew the rapt attention of anyone “of a certain age” who could remember those smoke-billowing giants of the rails. Family ties to Vermont were evident as well. I quickly knew, for example, that Dick’s father, Nelson Enos Kirby, had been born in Rochester, and I’ve later discovered that his grandfather, Nelson Royce Kirby, first saw light in Ripton. Our youngest Nelson (i.e. Dick) had many stories of warm weather childhood days spent in the Green Mountain State, and I’ll long regret that we never went together to visit his grandparents’ graves in Rochester.

Pretty much everybody in Brandon knew that Dick was a 25th Infantry Division combat veteran who proudly wore his Korea or American Legion caps, though he had a variety of other head coverings to suit his particular mood of the day. Having traveled back and forth to the Far East on a troop ship, he loved to tease one of the coffee guys whose Navy days was mostly ashore, noting that as a soldier he had actually spent more time at sea than his “sailor man” pal. Soon after his Korean War service Dick found his way back to Vermont, to marriage with Deborah Short, to a growing family, and to a long career with Central Vermont Public Service (since merged with Green Mountain Power). Dick’s coffee-time tales of lineman tasks and emergency duties were many. Especially memorable were stories (with photos to boot) of a massive snowstorm that hit the Orwell area especially hard. With each telling the white stuff got just a little bit deeper! As well, there were other snow adventures to hear about when Dick recalled his ski patrol days at Killington.

Long-time Brandon people, along with folks just popping in for a day, will remember Dick Kirby’s love of dogs. Anytime the “coffee boys” could sit outside the bakery (usually at the Kennedy Park picnic table), he had pockets stuffed with canine goodies, and his inquiry of “would your dog like a treat” will forever resonate in our minds…as I’m sure it will with pups across the nation. Of course, in many other ways he was generous, kind, and always ready to help. Need a ride somewhere? The transfer station, for example? If you didn’t mind the proverbial “slow boat to China,” steady-as-you-go Dick Kirby was your guy. To the end, Dick was also “sharp as a tack,” and he always had a ready response to any inquiry. For example, when asked at a recent coffee gathering where the 2026 Winter Olympics were being held, and not quickly recalling the geographical spot, Dick replied “on television.”

So much more could be said, and so many more memories recalled, but even an online publication has its limits. This tribute will thus close with the recollection of one coffee group veteran who said if he had to sum up Dick Kirby in one word it would be “genuine.” If ever there is an attribute to emulate, and a person to serve as a model, “genuine” and Dick Kirby provided them both.

Photo by Jack Fillioe.