A kind and gentle soul, M. Kirk Shouvlin, passed into eternal rest on March 26, 2015. Since then, family, friends and members of the many communities he embraced have filled his home with stories of kindness, caring, and friendship. His family is comforted by the recognition that his atypical leadership came in the form of love and empathy for those lucky enough to cross his path. Kirk was happiest in the company of those he leaves behind: Bernadette, his cherished wife of 37 years, his two sons, Patrick and Joseph, daughters-in-law Meghann and Lauren and grandchildren Ciara, Michael, Isabella and Everly, his beloved parents Michael and Mary Ann Shouvlin, brothers Peter, Patrick and sister Paige. Kirk was born on December 23, 1956 in Bryn Mawr, PA and grew up in New Canaan, CT; he was very active in sports, especially football and graduated from New Canaan High School in 1975. After graduating from Lafayette College and receiving his MBA from Duke University, Kirk established himself as an entrepreneur founding and operating two successful coffee businesses in Connecticut. His businesses gained their success through the formula that Kirk followed throughout his life: hard work, integrity, and tenacity. Kirk’s many accomplishments in business are not ultimately how anyone who knew him would measure his life. He was a loving and dedicated husband and a great companion to Bernadette. He was an extraordinary father who will always be the quintessential model for his sons, whom he adored and were the source of daily pride and joy. His lovely daughters-in-law were astounded by his immediate acceptance and his love of them as his daughters. The loyalty, love and friendship that he gave his siblings and his mother and father was unending. His multitudes of in-laws thought of him as a brother and a best pal. Kirk’s fellow church members, friends, neighbors, nephews, nieces, co-workers, clients, and the list goes on and on, will never forget Kirk. His effortless kindness and inexhaustible goodness were unique, and his internal motto of “the other guy first”, defines his life as a life well lived. There is no greater success than a person who betters this world while living amongst us, and our dear Kirk was the most successful person many of us has ever known. It is with great reluctance that we say good-bye, “Go in peace now Kirk and watch us amongst the angels.” A wake will be held at Smith Funeral Home, 135 Broad Street, Milford, Connecticut 06460, on Wednesday, April 1, 2015 from 3 pm - 7 pm and a Christian service will be held at First United Church of Christ Congregational 34 W. Main Street Milford Ct. on Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 10 am. Kirk had two treasured charities, Center for Working Families, 12605 W. North Avenue #130 Brookfield, WI 53005 & First United Church of Christ 34 W. Main Street Milford Ct. 06460.