• Kirby

     

    Dean Kirby, Class of 1964

    "It's a great day to be a pirate!"

    Clubs and Extracurriculars: Basketball, Football, Baseball, Track, Annual staff, and many others

    Favorite Pearl Memory: Meeting my wife of 52 years

    Senator Dean Kirby, Pearl High School Class of 1964, is a member of the Mississippi State Senate, representing District 30. He has been a lawmaker since 1992 and a top member of the Republican leadership team.

    After graduating from Pearl High School, Kirby attended Mississippi College where he played basketball. He then went on to earn his B.A. from LaSalle University in 1969. Senator Kirby says his time at PHS, MC, and LaSalle prepared him to become a state senator. In 1979, he opened and ran the Dean Kirby Insurance Agency until he retired from insurance in 2016.

    Kirby began serving as president pro tempore in 2020. The Senate president pro tempore, elected by the 52 members of the state Senate, helps oversee day-to-day operations of the chamber and serves as chair of the Rules Committee. The pro-tem presides in the absence of the lieutenant governor and is acting governor when the governor and lieutenant governor both are out of state.

    In addition to Senate president pro tempore, Kirby currently serves as chairman of the Congressional Redistricting and Legislative Reapportionment committees and vice-chair of the Local and Private committee. He also serves on several other committees.

    Senator Kirby is on the board of directors for NCSL and NCOIL; and a member of ALEC and NFIB. He is on the Board of Directors of Southern Pine Electric Power Association and active in the Pearl and Rankin Chambers of Commerce. Kirby is also a 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason.

    Senator Kirby met his late wife of 52 years, Jean Latham Kirby, while they were both students at Pearl High School. Together they have 3 children and 6 grandchildren. Kirby’s daughter, Tara, served as a teacher and principal in PPSD for several years. His son, Chris, is an Air Force Academy graduate; and his daughter, Tina, also served as a teacher in PPSD and now works for the state. He is the proud grandfather of 6: Kirby, Madeline, Max, Fisher, Ford, and Cloe.

    What is the most important thing you learned at Pearl? Honesty, integrity, and dedication