Paul Duncan Kirby

Paul Duncan Kirby was an American firefighter and businessman from Lexington County, South Carolina, known to generations of colleagues and neighbors as "Captain Kirby." He spent much of his working life with the Lexington County Fire Department, where he rose to the rank of captain before later starting his own business, Southern Site Works, LLC.

Kirby was born in 1963 and grew up in the Chapin, South Carolina area, graduating from Chapin High School in 1981. As a young man he earned the rank of Eagle Scout through the Indian Waters Council, a distinction that reflected the discipline and community mindedness that would mark the rest of his life. He went on to build a long career in the fire service before turning to private enterprise, a path that took him from protecting his community as a firefighter to building and running his own company.

Kirby lived in Pelion, South Carolina, and was a fixture of the close knit Lexington County community there. He was not a figure of national fame but was widely known and respected locally, both for his years of service with the fire department and for the business he later built. Friends, family and former colleagues have described him as a devoted husband, father and grandfather whose life centered on his family, his faith and his work.

Paul Duncan Kirby died on October 9, 2026, at the age of 63. His death was announced through an obituary released by the Milton Shealy Funeral Home of Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina, which described him going "to be with the Lord" after a period in which, the notice said, he was "no longer suffering." No public cause of death has been disclosed by the family, and it is not known at this time what illness or circumstances led to his passing.

News of his death brought an outpouring of condolence from the Lexington County community, including former colleagues from the fire service who knew him as a dedicated captain, and friends and family who remembered him as a loving and generous presence. He was preceded in death by his parents, Samuel Hampton "Chip" Kirby and Jacqueline Atkinson Kirby, and by his brother, Mark Napier Kirby. He is survived by his wife, Susan Jones Kirby, his daughters Abby Kirby, Kaitlyn Kirby and Savannah Kirby, his sons Shane Rawls and Zackary McClure, his brother Ben Kirby, and eight grandchildren.

A funeral service is scheduled to be held at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at Ebenezer Pentecostal Holiness Church in West Columbia, South Carolina, with burial to follow at Oaklawn Cemetery in Pelion. A visitation is planned to take place at the church in the two hours before the service.