Newly elected Marion County Mayor David A. Kirk died Wednesday of complications stemming from a horse-riding accident a couple of weeks ago, officials said.
Family members were not available for comment. County Attorney Billy Gouger, acting as spokesman for the county, said he had talked with Kirk on Tuesday and had been scheduled to meet with him Wednesday.
“He was in the Siskin [Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation] and had undergone hip and pelvis surgery,” Gouger said of Kirk.
There was no official word on the cause of death Wednesday.
“He took a fall off of a horse about two weekends ago. He had two successful surgeries following that fall, and he was in the rehabilitation process. I spoke with him yesterday and everything seemed to be in order,” said Gouger, who had known Kirk since childhood.
“He and my father were high school classmates,” he said.
“He was a fine man, a good, hard-working man,” Gouger said. “He had only been in office two months, but he had made very positive strides in the county. Everybody was encouraged by what he was able to do in those two months.”
Before winning the August election to the mayor’s post, Kirk had been county trustee since 1994.
In a 2007 interview, Kirk, then 63, said that before he began public service, he was a coach and educator for nine years and worked in local coal mines for 18 years.
Kirk joked at the time that he had run for public office mainly to be gainfully employed. But he said his three careers had given him a chance to “to make friends all over the county.”
Kirk is survived by his wife, Gayle, and sons Jackie, Allen and Mike.
Sequatchie County resident Jan Johnson, a longtime friend and football coaching adversary, said he was stunned by the news.
“It’s a huge personal loss for me and a tremendous loss to our valley,” Johnson said.
“He was a classmate of my wife, and they graduated together,” he said. Johnson said the families remained close over the years.
“I loved David; he’s a good guy,” he said. “I’ve known David since we played football against each other. I just can’t imagine a world without David Kirk in it.”
Gouger said state law dictates procedures to fill the vacancy.
“The chairman of the County Commission [Gene Hargis] will become the interim county mayor until the vacancy is filled,” he said.
County commissioners will appoint someone to the seat until the next general election in August 2012.