Background
Lucy Ruth Miller was born in Taumarunui in 1922, the daughter of postmaster George Miller and his wife Margaret.
Lucy Ruth Miller was born in Taumarunui in 1922, the daughter of postmaster George Miller and his wife Margaret.
Her husband was New Zealand"s 29th Prime Minister, Norman Kirk. The couple were to have three boys and two girls, including John Kirk, who succeeded his father as Member of Parliament for Sydenham, and coastal geomorphologist Professor Bob Kirk. In February 1944, they moved to Katikati in the Bay of Plenty.
In 1948, they moved to Canterbury.
Her husband worked at Firestone (now Bridgestone) in Papanui and in the evenings and weekend, built their house in Kaiapoi, where land was cheaper. Once the house was finished, the family moved to Kaiapoi.
On 28 May 1999, their house in Carew Street was registered by the Historic Places Trust as a Category I heritage structure. Norman Kirk was elected Mayor of Kaiapoi in 1953.
The family moved to Christchurch in January 1958 to fulfil a promise to the Lyttelton electors.
In 1974, she became patron of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child. Kirk joined protest marches in Wellington and Hamilton. Her husband died in August 1974, and in the 1975 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for public services.
Three months after her husband"s death, she put gifts given to him by foreign leaders up for auction, which again caused some public debate.
She was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977.