Former BF resident dies in Afghanistan

BONNERS FERRY — A former Bonners Ferry resident is among eight soldiers killed Saturday when his military unit came under fire in Afghanistan.

The body of Joshua Kirk, 30, was returned to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Tuesday, where family planned to be. Kirk’s aunt, Barbara LePoidevin, said the funeral will likely be held on the East Coast.

Kirk was among eight soldiers from Fort Carson in Colorado who came under fire by as many as 200 insurgents at the outposts in Nuristan province, according to a published report. It was the deadliest fighting seen by Fort Carson soldiers since Vietnam and the largest loss of life for the post in single battle in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Born in Thomaston, Maine, Kirk was the son of Bernadette Kirk Bonner and the late John Kirk. The fourth oldest of six children, Kirk’s siblings are Jennifer and Josiah Kirk, and Jocelyn Fulton, all of Bonners Ferry; Johnna Sohner of Florida; and Jessica Tingley of Newport News, Va.

LePoidevin said the family moved to Bonners Ferry in 1983. Joshua Kirk left Bonners Ferry when he was about 19 to 20 years old. He worked at Les Schwab in Bonners Ferry before leaving the area and going to Maine, where he worked as a carpenter.

Josh Kirk and his wife, Megan, lived Colorado Springs, Colo., with their 2-year-old daughter, Kennsington, at the time of his death. They were stationed in Germany prior to moving to Colorado.

Former Bonners Ferry resident Mike Fessler was good friends with Kirk.

“I’ve known Josh since 1997. He was my roommate and we started rock climbing together,” said Fessler, who lives in Yuma, Ariz., where he works for the U.S. Border Patrol.

“He was just really outgoing and everything he did, he just excelled in,” Fessler said. “Everything he did, he did well at.”