By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Thursday, April 23, 2026

Brian Kirby, a former Minor League Baseball player and two-time MLB draft pick who died on April 15 while working as an HVAC technician on the roof of a church in North Little Rock, Arkansas, was buried on Wednesday and remembered as a man of faith. He was 46.

“Brian was a man of deep faith, who faithfully lived out his convictions with grace and dignity. He looked forward to the soon return of Jesus Christ ‘when this mortal shall put on immortality …’ and we would all be reunited with our Savior (1 Cor. 15:54),” an obituary from Smith Family Funeral Homes announcing his April 22 memorial at Little Rock Seventh-day Adventist Church said. “Brian will be forever loved and deeply missed.”

Kirby was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in 1997 and the Cleveland Indians (now the Cleveland Guardians) in 2001. He reached the Triple-A level — the highest level of Minor League Baseball — but did not appear in a Major League game.

Former Arkansas baseball coach Norm DeBriyn, who recruited Kirby from North Little Rock High School to play for the Razorbacks at the University of Arkansas, remembered him as a standout player and person.

Before the Cincinnati Reds drafted him in the 23rd round of the 1997 MLB Draft, Kirby had an impressive high school record. At North Little Rock High School, he was named team MVP twice and helped the Charging Wildcats to a 43–10 record as a junior and senior, according to Whole Hog Sports.

“He was really, really a good player and a good person,” DeBriyn told the outlet. “I feel like you would recruit Brian Kirby over again. He was a guy that you wanted on your team. He was a good team guy.”

Kirby broke Arkansas’ freshman record for home runs, previously set by Jeff King with 11 in 1984. He went on to become the fifth Freshman All-American in program history.

The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called to Graves Memorial Baptist Church in North Little Rock at about 11:20 a.m. April 15. They found Kirby unresponsive on the roof after using a drone to locate his body “near two air conditioning units on the roof.”

In a statement on Facebook Monday, Kirby’s cousin, Allison Avra Guerin, said he was “one of the good ones.”

“Our family faced a very unexpected, tragic loss last week. We are still in shock and our hearts are broken after receiving the news that our cousin, Brian, was taken from this earth far too soon. He was, undoubtedly, one of the good ones,” she wrote. “Please keep his sweet wife, Jennifer ‘Moore’ Kirby, and their two precious daughters in your prayers, along with our aunt and uncle, Curtis and Cindy.”

Kirby also leaves behind a sister, Marisa Kirby, as well as a close extended circle of family and friends.

“There are things of this world that I will just never understand. It truly breaks my heart to its core. But I do know the promise of eternity on the other side. And for that, I can only rejoice through the sadness, knowing Brian is there celebrating until we meet again soon,” Guerin said.

Kirby, who married his wife on Valentine’s Day in 2008, was described as a “devoted husband and father.”

At the time of his death, he was working alongside his family at Kirby’s Heating & Air and “was known for his strong work ethic, kindness, and generosity,” his obituary said.

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/brian-kirby-former-mlb-draft-pick-who-died-on-church-roof-buried.html