Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: July 1998 Volume 36 Number 3, Page 99

In Memoriam: Miles Wells Kirkpatrick

Page 99

Miles Wells Kirkpatrick died on May 2, 1998, one month shy of his 80th birthday, after having been seriously ill for several months. He had been a club member for only two years, but he will be missed.

Miles was educated at the Solebury School and Princeton University, and received his degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1943 in absentia while serving in the Army in World War II. Having been admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1943, following discharge he joined the Philadelphia law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius as an associate. He became a partner in 1955. In 1970 he was appointed by then President Richard Nixon as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. He served with distinction in that position until 1973 when he returned to private practice with his firm. He retired in 1985.

Although he was born in Easton, Pennsylvania on June 1, 1918, at the time of his death he had been a resident of Strafford for 51 years. He served as a member of the first Tredyffrin Township Planning Commission. He also was a good friend of the local libraries, and acted as Chairman of the Board of both the Tredyffrin and Radnor Libraries, and as a board member of the Eastern College Library. He supported other worthy causes beyond our local boundaries. In his youth he was drawn to music and he enjoyed playing the piano. He also enjoyed tennis and golf.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Anne Skerrett Kirkpatrick, a son William H., and daughters Nancy (Mrs. Kirkpatrick-Urban) and Mary (Mrs. Gillett), eight grandchildren, and a niece, Mary Lane K. Bautch.