page_title: Bernard Kirk
section_title: Funeral
hierarchical_section_title: Bernard Kirk / Funeral
caption_attribution_description: English: Bernard Kirk grave, St. John Cemetery, N. River Street, Ypsilanti Michigan
context_page_description: Bernard C. Kirk was an American football player who played for Notre Dame in 1919 and for Michigan from 1921 to 1922. He was selected as an All-American at the end position in both 1921 and 1922. In December 1922, shortly after being named an All-American and while at the height of his popularity, Kirk suffered a fractured skull in an automobile accident, and died several days later at a hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan. His funeral was attended by the Governor of Michigan and many other dignitaries, and was reported in newspapers across the United States.
context_section_description: Kirk's funeral, held in Ypsilanti, was covered by newspapers across the United States.  The New York Times reported: "High officials of the State and the educational world, as well as gridiron stars of this and other years, gathered here today to pay the last honors to Bernard Kirk, star football player of the University of Michigan, whose death resulted Saturday from an automobile accident."  A requiem mass was held at St. John's Catholic Church, which "could not accommodate a tenth of those attending the services."  Kirk's honorary pallbearers included University of Michigan President Marion Leroy Burton, Michigan Governor Alex Groesbeck, University of Michigan Coach Fielding H. Yost, and two U.S. Congressmen. 
  His casket was carried to the grave by eight of his Michigan teammates, including Harry Kipke, Paul G. Goebel, Irwin Uteritz, and Franklin Cappon.  One account described the emotion of the funeral: "As the casket bearing the body of the former University of Michigan football star was slowly lowered into his last resting place, husky athletes who battled with him on the football fields for the glory and honor of Michigan sobbed unashamed." That last resting place is St. John Cemetery in Ypsilanti.
caption: Kirk grave, St. John Cemetery
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