Kirk P. Mahaffey
Obituaries
Steamboat Pilot & Today - March 27, 2023
February 18, 1941 – December 5, 2022
Lifelong resident Kirk P. Mahaffey passed away peacefully and entered the gates of heaven and joined his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ in eternal life on December 5, 2022, at the age of 81 in Harlingen, Texas.
Kirk was born February 18, 1941, in Mt. Harris, Colorado and spent most of his life in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. As a lifelong resident of the Yampa Valley, Kirk grew up and spent his early life in Mount Harris. He then moved to Steamboat Springs where he graduated from Steamboat Springs High School. Kirk was a gifted athlete playing on the Steamboat Spring Sailor Football and Basketball teams. Kirk enjoyed all the activities of a young man in the Yampa Valley; hunting, shooting sports, participating in bowling leagues, and specially his primary passion in life, golf. Throughout his youth he was a top marksman in the local rifle club and later in his life was one of the top bowlers in the bowling leagues of Steamboat Springs.
After graduation he went to work for Larson Transport as a truck driver. He later became a valued employee of Yampa Valley Electric Company for nearly 3 decades, working as a lineman and a Field Staking Engineer where he was well known and well respected both within YVEA and throughout the community for his expertise on all issues relating to electrical engineering in the construction industry.
Kirk spent some of the winter months in Harlingen, Texas. While being in the warmth of Texas, he was always eager to get back to Steamboat Springs to see his valued friends. Kirk’s true passion was playing golf and he pursued it with energy, enthusiasm, and passion from his early youth though his last days on earth. In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s Kirk would travel with a group of his close golfing buddies to courses from Rifle to Glenwood Springs to Saratoga, Wyoming. Kirk’s legacy and gift to Steamboat Springs is as a founding member of the Steamboat Springs Golf Club. He was the last living founding member of the Steamboat Golf Club, created in 1964. The club is now the oldest continuously operating golf club in the Steamboat Springs area. Kirk served on the Board of Directors for the club for several terms and was the person who members relied on to tell the stories of the development of the course. Kirk was a champion golfer who won more than his fair share of tournaments at SSGC and other courses around the area and region. Most importantly, he was a friend and mentor to many golfers around the region. Kirk and his friends, Ron Shively, Jim Garrecht, Marty Lamansky, and James Chappell] enjoyed having the first tee time on most weekends and on several weekdays. The number eight was memorable to Kirk, his membership was number 8 and he experienced his hole-in-one on the 8th hole.
Surely Kirk was greeted at heaven’s gates by his beloved father Mitchell, mother Geraldine and sister Joyce. He will be remembered fondly by the community of Steamboat Springs and the members, past and present, of the Steamboat Springs Golf Club. A Celebration of Life will be held at the Steamboat Golf Club later this spring. In lieu of any flowers please make donations to the National Forests or Parks.
