A Whitman humanitarian won a prestigious award for work that his daughter’s death inspired.
Helping wheelchair athletes has given Joe Kirlin, left, numerous opportunities to advance the memory of his daughter Katie. Over the last 21 years, he and wife Roseann have helped thousands of children to compete in basketball, track and field and swimming.
Losing a child can harden a heart or make it more eager to afford affection.
Blessed with a loving nature, Joe Kirlin has partnered with perseverance in the 22 years since his youngest child’s death. The resident of the 200 block of Wolf Street ventured to Washington, D.C., last month, to receive a Jefferson Award for Public Service, the latest honor for his mission to assist wheelchair athletes.
A maintenance technician with Exelon Power/PECO Energy, Kirlin earned his jaunt through his company’s March move to present him with its Excellence Award for volunteerism. His employer also endowed him with a $20,000 grant for the Katie Kirlin Fund, the chief means through which he and wife Roseann Kirlin salute the memory of their daughter Katie, who, after two courageous years fighting cancer, died in 1989 at age 12.
The largest bequest in the foundation’s 21-year history will allow the Kirlins to buy at least 10 athletic wheelchairs for competitors at the Carousel House Recreation Center, a Fairmount Park haven offering educational, recreational and socialization services to disabled people throughout the Philadelphia area. The venue has come to serve as a sanctuary as they seek to encourage youths to counter their afflictions primarily through basketball, one of their daughter’s loves. The Kirlins finance Katie’s Komets, three junior teams that compete in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA).
“It is nice to keep Katie’s name alive in such a positive way,” Joe Kirlin said from his Whitman home.
Highly athletic, Katie enjoyed tennis and swimming and had hoped to play basketball for Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2329 S. Third St. With perfect health, she seemed destined for sporting glory. She would earn it but not in the traditional sense. Severe back pain led the Kirlins to take Katie to doctors, who discovered a malignant tumor on her spinal cord. Its removal, however, could not prevent paralyzation.
Rehabilitation at Wilmington, Del.’s A.I. duPont Hospital forged her entry into wheelchair sports and culminated in her becoming a junior participant within the North American Wheelchair Basketball Association.
“When she started, she said ‘I’m still Katie. I just do things differently,’” Roseann Kirlin recalled.
One could have renamed ’88’s National Junior Wheelchair Games in Johnson City, Tenn., the Katie Kirlin Games, as the 10-year-old claimed gold medals in the 100-meter race and the 25-meter freestyle swimming event. Three silvers also found themselves around her neck.
As their home on the 2400 block of South American Street was poorly suited for Katie’s wheelchair, which friends had helped to purchase through a golf outing, the Kirlins chose Chews Landing, N.J., as a new location two months before the July games. Their acquaintances’ helped to craft the creation of Katie’s Klassic, an annual June golf gathering in Sicklerville, N.J., that has helped the Kirlins to amass $1.6 million to provide grants for wheelchair purchases and lodging and travel expenses for the Komets, which also fields swimming and track and field teams, among many endeavors.
Katie qualified for the ’89 games in California, but the development of another spinal tumor in June of that year precipitated a painful decline.
“She had a good year as a paraplegic,” her mother said of the youngster, who specialized in the 100-, 200-, 400- and 800-meter disciplines.
“We were not sure if she realized how competitive she was,” her father said. “Her drive just came out.”
Her ambition enabled her to hold off the end long enough to reach her 12th birthday on Aug. 30, but she passed Nov. 20. The receipt of $11,000 in donations from Katie’s funeral inspired a dream to send wheelchair competitors to national events. Having done parish work, the Kirlins upped their philanthropic identity by creating the fund in ’90.
“We were fearful of becoming involved in special causes,” Roseann Kirlin said, adding she felt interest would enjoy a limited run.
“We suspected people would move on quickly in search of fresher causes, newer causes,” Joe Kirlin added.
Returning to South Philadelphia following their loss, the Kirlins received evidence of the unfounded nature of their worries, as memories of Katie’s commitment and the fortitude of hundreds of wheelchair athletes have made the last 21 years proof of the fund’s “Courage is facing the odds” motto.
“We felt it was sad when we saw there were not enough funds for wheelchair athletes,” Joe Kirlin said. “We wanted to contribute.”
Although almost every city has long-standing traditions, nothing compares to the Mummers' Parade. Dating back more than 100 years, this New Year's Day celebration has become a city staple. Dressed to the nines, hundreds strut routines they've practiced all year down Broad Street. Whether it's the musical numbers of the String Bands or the delicate beading on the Fancies' costumes, each stop en route to City Hall yields a one-of-a-kind experience for everyone involved. Life-long residents watching from the sidewalk or those just passing through the city -- some here just for the parade -- have the opportunity to see something spectacular. This experience is what Ed Kirlin hoped to convey in his first book, "The Littlest Mummer: A Philadelphia Story." According to the author, who lives at Second and Morris streets, he wanted to create the first guide for the young and old alike on how to sing, dance and shuffle to the Mummers' beat. A labor of love, the book took five years to complete and initially sprang from a small idea. "I spent a lot of time explaining to visitors about what the parade is and how to do [the Mummers' Strut] themselves," he said. After talking people...
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