While still a Dalton High School student, Bob Kirk worked summers as part of a Georgia Department of Transportation crew surveying routes through northwest Georgia.
Years later, he became a lead planner in the construction of I-75 from the Tennessee border past his hometown of Tunnel Hill all the way to Atlanta. He also helped lay the groundwork for I-285 and, later, Spaghetti Junction.
His son, Ken Kirk of Sandy Springs, recalled his father telling him that when the future traffic volume for the busy intersection of I-285 and I-85 was estimated in the 1960s, some in the DOT thought the projections were beyond belief.
"Dad was very analytical," he said. "He had examined the numbers, and they and he turned out to be right."
During the last 15 of his 33 years with the DOT, Mr. Kirk was the department's senior highway planner and was "just an excellent all-around engineer," said Emory Parrish of Smyrna, former deputy DOT commissioner. "Bob oversaw the design work during much of the construction of Georgia's interstate highways," Mr. Parrish said.
"Bob and other engineers like myself who worked for him had the good fortune to come along when Georgia was building its part of America's interstate highway system -- when the work we did was really meaningful," said Ray Threlkeld of Woodstock, a former DOT colleague.
Robert C. Kirk, 79, died March 19 at his Avondale Estates home of cancer complications. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Tunnel Hill United Methodist Church. A.S. Turner & Sons funeral home is in charge of arrangements.
As a boy in Tunnel Hill, Mr. Kirk had his own corner in his father's garage where he worked on mechanical projects and model airplanes.
A longtime friend, McCoy Griffin of Tunnel Hill, said he looked up to Mr. Kirk, who was four years older. "A lot of boys do that out of athletic admiration," he said. "In my case, I was impressed with what Bob could do with his hands and how organized and precise he was."
Educated as a civil engineer at Georgia Tech, Mr. Kirk spent two years in the U.S. Army in postwar Germany. There he helped build roads serving American military bases before returning to Atlanta to get his master's degree at Tech and begin his DOT career.
Away from work, Mr. Kirk was a conscientious Scoutmaster, especially good at mentoring boys in earning their merit badges, said Roy Sargent of Andrews, N.C., his predecessor as Scoutmaster of Troop 6 in Avondale Estates.
"One of the things the boys especially liked was the instruction Bob gave them in fixing cars. He was an expert mechanic," Mr. Sargent said.
Mr. Kirk enjoyed outdoor treks with the Scouts, but roughing it had its limits. "I recall we were camping in the North Georgia mountains," said a fellow Scout leader, Henry Jones of Avondale Estates, "and while most of us were munching on freeze-dried food for breakfast, Bob was frying a couple of eggs. Bob told me at the time, ‘I see no need to be uncomfortable.'"
In addition to his mechanical aptitude, Mr. Kirk was a skilled woodworker, fashioning built-in bookcases and a hutch for his home and other projects as gifts.
He also devoted a lot of thought and effort to his extended family, said a nephew, Kent Smith of Chamblee.
"Bob did genealogical research on both his and his wife's forebears," Mr. Smith said. "He constructed mechanical clocks, music boxes and toys as Christmas gifts. He produced annual family photo albums and CDs and MP3s of vintage Christmas music as gifts. He even gave us calendars each year with all the important family dates -- birthdays and anniversaries -- highlighted."
Survivors also include his wife, Anita Kirk; a daughter, Kari Rheney of Avondale Estates; a sister, Patricia Lewis of Calhoun; and four grandchildren.
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