‘She finished the race’

NEWPORT BEACH — Gail Kirwan struggled with illness for the last decade of her life, but her community spirit never dimmed — and neither did her sense of humor.

At Kirwan’s funeral Saturday at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, her brother, David Logozzo, told the crowd about her passion for charity functions and her attention to detail.

Not long before Kirwan died, Logozzo said, she joked that she wanted her memorial service scheduled three days before her death so she could see who was there and what they were wearing.

“She’s probably checking us all out right now,” said Logozzo, who delivered the eulogy for his sister.

Kirwan, a member of the Hoag Hospital Foundation and supporter of a number of charities around Orange County, died of cancer Monday at the age of 65. Hundreds of friends, colleagues and family members gathered at Our Lady Queen of Angels Saturday at noon to pay tribute to her, as flowers and wreaths lined the front steps and the inside of the church.

“We celebrate the life of a wonderful woman who truly embraced her life,” said Rev. Steve Sallot, a friend of Kirwan and her husband, Roger.

A board member of the Hoag foundation since 2002, Kirwan also won renown for her support of the Orange County Performing Artscenter, Orange County Museum of Art, Opera Pacific and other arts organizations and nonprofits.

In lieu of flowers, her family asked that donations be made in her honor to Boys Hope Girls Hope, an educational charity based in Garden Grove.

Logozzo, in his eulogy, noted that wealth hadn’t always played a part in Kirwan’s life. The oldest of four children, she grew up in Connecticut in a small house and often sewed her own clothes as a teenager. She was the first member of her family to go to college and later studied at the Sorbonne in Paris before becoming a teacher in New York.

Logozzo said when Kirwan met her husband, with whom she moved to Newport Beach in 1973, the two formed a rock-solid partnership.

“Roger and Gail were soul mates and best friends,” he said.

During the funeral, Kirwan’s two sisters read passages from the Bible, while her sister-in-law, Clare Kirwan Briody, also spoke briefly and praised Kirwan for her resilience.

“Gail fought the good fight,” Briody said. “She finished the race.”

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected].