Founder of an iconic Wichita dive bar has died at age 79
The founder and namesake of one of Wichita’s best-known dive bars has died, say locals who knew him.
Jim Kirby, who in 1972 opened Kirby’s Beer Store at 3227 E. 17th St. — across the street from the Wichita State University campus — recently died in Seattle, where he’d lived for 46 years. According to Kirby’s co-owner Alex Thomas, Kirby, 79, died on Friday, Dec. 19.
Though he’d long since left Wichita, Kirby would occasionally return to visit the bar he founded. He was in town in May 2022 for Kirby’s 50th birthday festivities.
“He was very modest, very intelligent, very kind and pretty unassuming,” said Thomas, who became friends with Kirby after he bought the bar in 2007. “He was just tickled with how much people loved the place.”
Kirby, who was born in Oklahoma City, moved with his family to Wichita when he was in elementary school. He was a graduate of East High School.
He was in his mid-20s when a tavern near WSU went up for sale, he told The Eagle in 2022. He bought the tiny bar, and it quickly drew a diverse crowd that included not only people from the surrounding neighborhood but also WSU students and professors.
Kirby was known for running silly ads in The Sunflower, the WSU campus newspaper, to promote the bar, and Kirby’s became especially popular with professors and students from the English, psychology and geology departments at WSU.
When he owned the bar, Kirby instituted a trivia night and invited singer/songwriters to perform with their acoustic guitars. He also entered a Kirby’s softball team made up of regulars into the local “beer leagues”
During his time in charge of Kirby’s, he offered a free potato soup lunch on Saturdays and served “what do you expect for a dime?” coffee.
Kirby eventually sold the bar to a group of geology professors, and it’s been through several ownership changes since. Today, it’s known as a place to catch live music.
In 1979, Kirby moved to Seattle, where his father had a job with Boeing, and he remained living there until his death.
Thomas said that after he bought Kirby’s, he got the idea to make a documentary about the bar’s colorful history and tried to get in touch with the founder. He finally did when Kirby returned to town for a funeral, pre-COVID.
The two remained friendly, and Thomas visited Kirby several times in Seattle. They bonded over their shared understanding of bar ownership.
Thomas never made the documentary, but he still has lots of footage of Kirby that he shot for the project. He said he may play some of it at the memorial he’s planning for 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 24.
Thomas said he hadn’t heard from Kirby in a while and had wondered about his health. He said he’ll remember his friend as a private but caring person.
“He always checked in on me,” Thomas said. “He was just a very sweet soul.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2025 at 6:48 AM.
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