Impact of Giving

Photo: Mark and Suzanne Kirby

Gina and Derek Kirby are not UNB alumni, but both of their children, Suzanne Kirby Violette (BBA’89) and Mark Kirby (BBA’95) were. When the time came for the Kirbys to consider their estate planning, they felt it was fitting to create a scholarship at UNB in memory of Suzanne, who died in 2009, and Mark, who died in 2021.

The Suzanne G. Kirby & Mark R. Kirby Memorial Scholarship is to be awarded annually to two students enrolled in the bachelor of business administration degree program on the Fredericton campus. Preference is given to students pursuing entrepreneurial studies.
Suzanne and Mark were entrepreneurs themselves, starting Kirby Cheese at Fredericton’s Boyce Farmers Market when Suzanne was 15 and Mark was just 11. “He could just see over the counter,” Gina says. The cheese stall was a great success, and the siblings kept it going for nine years, funding both of their degrees with their earnings.

The family was very close and shared a spirit of adventure, travelling widely together even after both children had grown. “If we went on holiday, they would say, ‘Can’t we come too?’” says Gina, laughing. Derek draws a connection between their family’s love of travel and their history as a couple — he and Gina emigrated from England to New Brunswick in 1966, when they had been married just six months. “I suppose it’s because we left our homes behind us, and we knew very little about Canada.”

Suzanne took Spanish classes at UNB and, after graduating, attended Spanish school in Costa Rica before working as an au pair in Paris. Mark took Japanese classes at UNB, which inspired him to move to Japan for three years after graduation. He then moved with his young family to British Columbia but returned home to New Brunswick when Suzanne became ill with cancer. “The bond between them was very, very strong,” Derek says.

The Kirbys decided to make their gift to UNB in two stages so that students can start benefiting right away. During their lifetimes, they will support the scholarship with annual gifts; the first scholarships were awarded this year. Their bequest will fund the scholarship in perpetuity, helping countless more students in the years to come.

“Because we can’t take it with us,” Derek says, and Gina adds, “and we can’t spend it all!”

Learn more about establishing an award in memory of a loved one.

Find out how you can establish a bequest to UNB.