Jerry Kirk, beloved former editor of The Cooperator, died peacefully on March 3, 2026, at NHC Franklin after an extended illness.

Jerry retired after 29 years as editor, then returned part-time for another 16 years, totaling 45 years of service to the Co-op system before his final retirement in 2017.

“He was a professional communicator in every sense of the word,” says current editor Glen Liford. “He had a knack for telling stories. His “As I Was Saying” column was always among the most loved and widely read features of the magazine. It regularly highlighted many of the people and places he loved in Tennessee and the adventures he shared with his devoted wife, Jane, and son, Chris.”

Jerry’s leadership brought out the best in his staff. A strong believer in continuing education, he emphasized the fundamentals of effective communication and storytelling. He also served as president of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA), earning numerous honors, including the Klinefelter Award for lifetime achievement. He expected his staff to follow his lead in supporting and learning from CCA colleagues across the nation.

Throughout his career, Jerry played a key role in shaping Co-op communications — planning TFC Annual Meetings, preparing speeches and reports, and helping define the organization’s voice. Known for his calm confidence under deadline pressure, he was a tireless advocate for agriculture and the cooperative business model.

In 2012, he was recognized by TFC as the “Voice of Co-op” with the James B. Walker Cooperative Spirit Award at TFC’s annual meeting in Nashville.

“People in our organization have nothing but great things to say about Jerry Kirk,” said former TFC Customer Relations Officer Jim McWherter at the time. “Over the years, Jerry has chosen not to be in the limelight, but he has made other people look good.”

Allison Jenkins, who succeeded Jerry as The Cooperator editor, wrote about Jerry in a news story in the January 2013 issue:

Jerry was born April 6, 1939, to Wright and Lochiel Kirk in the small Hamblen County town of Whitesburg. He had a brother named Wayne, and his dad was a member of Hamblen Farmers Co-op. The family raised a couple of hogs and milk cows, a large garden, and a small, pampered patch of burley that Jerry says was “the best tobacco in that part of the country.”

“I loved living in Whitesburg,” said Jerry. “Everybody knew everybody. We went to church together; we went to school together; we played together. It was a good way to grow up.”

Active in 4-H, he attended the 1956 National 4-H Congress as a state winner in entomology. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1961 with a degree in journalism and got his first job writing for a newspaper. He later served four years in the Air Force as an information specialist.

Following his discharge in 1965, Jerry resumed his newspaper career in Fayetteville and Morristown. In 1969, he was hired by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture in Nashville to edit the department’s monthly Market Bulletin and various marketing pieces.

His experience in newspapers and agriculture would mesh a few years later when Jerry joined TFC’s Advertising Department in 1974 as editor of The Cooperator. Often a one-man operation early on, he covered the state as writer, editor, and photographer. Co-op immediately felt like “home,” Jerry said, mainly because of the people he worked with — from the leadership to the customers themselves.

“Everyone was patient and encouraging as I learned my way around,” said Jerry. “It was a welcoming feeling that I’d never had before, anywhere.”

From the start, Jerry wanted The Cooperator to be “something everybody in the state would enjoy,” highlighting farmers, Co-ops, and rural life. He also introduced popular features like “Courthouse Gallery,” “Our Country Churches,” and “What’s Cookin’?”

In October 1986, Jerry’s Co-op career took a quick detour when he left TFC to become editor of The Tennessee Magazine, the membership magazine of the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association. TFC’s leaders, however, worked out an arrangement that allowed him to return to TFC each month to edit The Cooperator. By this time, the department had a competent staff of journalists, Jerry says, which allowed him to do that.

In 1989, as Advertising Department Manager Cleston Parris neared retirement, Jerry returned to TFC permanently and took over that position on Sept. 27, 1990. Jerry managed Communications and edited The Cooperator for another decade, building on the reputation for quality that he had fostered from the start. Even after retiring in 2001, his influence continued through those he mentored. Those he worked with remember not only his professionalism, but his character.

“One of the reasons The Cooperator has been so successful is the pride Jerry takes in its production,” said Allison Jenkins, who succeeded him. “He always makes sure it is accurate, thorough, clear, and effective.”

Jerry’s left a legacy that continues to pay benefits for the system and other cooperatives today. Glen Liford and Page Haynes, both of whom Jerry initially hired in 1990 and 1991, respectively, currently lead The Cooperator team. Allison is now editor of MFA’s Today’s Farmer magazine, sharing the strengths of the cooperative business model with Missouri farmers. And Jerry’s son, Chris, is now editor of The Tennessee Magazine, the publication once edited by his father.

Jerry was the subject of the very first Snapshot column that Glen did for The Cooperator, as he tried to follow in Jerry’s footsteps in the May 2017 issue. He says the feelings shared in that column still hold true today:

“I’m thankful that I had the privilege to learn my craft under the leadership of such a true professional,” wrote Glen. “The times I have spent working with Jerry have been some of the best. The lessons he taught me have served me well and become even more valuable as time goes on. But more importantly, he is a wonderful friend. Whatever success I’ve had in this work is greatly attributable to him. He could always find just the right words for every situation.”

Cooperator Assistant Editor Page Haynes shares similar sentiments:

“I was blessed to join the TFC Communications staff in 1991, and from the first day, Jerry made me feel like a cherished member of the team. He was outgoing, genuine, a devoted UT fan, and could create a great story effortlessly. I worked on the Cooperator staff for 11 years, and he stressed the down-home personality of The Cooperator and its importance as TFC’s statewide communications tool. He was an absolute joy to be around, and it was a privilege to work with him. He was a true patriarch of our Co-op system.”

But perhaps the most moving testament came from Jerry himself. Reflecting on his career, Jerry once said, “Four decades of writing about Tennessee’s best farmers are treasured bonuses … To be involved in work that I love so much is a real blessing.”

Jerry was preceded in death by his wife, Jane, his parents, Wright and Lochiel Brooks Kirk, and his brother, Wayne. He is survived by his son Chris, daughter-in-law Anna; and granddaughters, Sloan and Caroline of Brentwood. The date for his memorial service had not been set as of press time, but the family requests that memorial donations be made to Christ United Methodist Church, 508 Franklin Road, Franklin, TN 37069. Sympathy cards may be mailed to: Chris Kirk and family, 1320 Sweetwater Drive, Brentwood, TN 37027.