Eugene Lawrence Quirk, 86, formerly of Pittsfield and Dalton, died Monday, Nov. 3, 2008, in Cranbury, N.J. Born in Pittsfield on April 23, 1922, son of John Lawrence and Elizabeth Gorman Quirk, Mr. Quirk was a 1940 graduate of Pittsfield High School, where he was a standout baseball and basketball player for the Purple. He later played semi-professional baseball at Wahconah Park. He attended the University of Colorado for two years and then enlisted in the Navy. He served in both the Asian Pacific and European African Theaters from Nov. 23, 1942, to Feb. 26, 1946, including participation in the invasion of Europe on D-Day. In keeping with his love of sports, he served as both a referee and coach with Dalton's youth baseball and football leagues. He worked as a cost estimater for the Ordinance Division of the General Electric Company in Pittsfield, retiring in 1984. For the next 23 years he lived in Vero Beach, Fla., where he devoted himself to his true avocation the game of golf. A loyal, life-long Red Sox fan, he was thrilled to watch his favorite team win the World Series in both 2004 and 2007. Each year, at his family's Fourth of July picnic in Stockbridge, he entertained the gathering by singing Irish songs with his lilting tenor voice. He is the last of the seven Quirk children, whose families met for the picnic each year since it first began in 1943. He leaves his wife, the former Dina DiMassimo, whom he married Dec. 2, 1950. They had made their home in Dalton for over 25 years. Besides his wife, he leaves two sons, John, and his wife, Marian, of Vienna, Va., and Eugene and his wife, Carol, of Schuylerville, N.Y.; two daughters, Elisabeth Orford and her husband, William, of York, S.C., and Kathleen Wasson and her husband, Arthur, of Cranbury, N.J.; 11 grandchildren, John, Ben, Morgan, Colin, Daniel and Heather Quirk, Kristin Maringola, Jeffrey and Keith Orford and Michael and Madeline Wasson, and four great-grandchildren, Angela, Nicholas, Mary and Daniel Orford. FUNERAL NOTICE: Services will be Saturday, Nov. 15, at 9 a.m. at St. Joseph's Church with Mr. Quirk's great-nephew, Father Jeffrey Minkler, officiating. Interment will follow at St. Joseph's Cemetery. Calling hours will be Friday, Nov. 14, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the DERY FUNERAL HOME. The family requests that contributions in memory of Eugene Quirk be made to Princeton Hospice, 208 Bunn Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540 or to any other hospice organization of the donor's choice.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Eugene L. Quirk, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.