George A. Kirby | Sun Oil manager, 86

George A. Kirby, 86, formerly of Glen Mills, a retired Sun Oil Co. manager and an authority on college football, died of an apparent heart attack Monday at the Freedom Village retirement community in West Brandywine, where he had lived for 10 years.

In 1991, Mr. Kirby published The All American Football Pictorial, a compilation of a century of photos and articles about college football stars from 1889 to 1988. He collected football memorabilia for years and worked on the book all during his daughters' childhood, daughter Donna Grabner said.

At Christmas they completed his collection of vintage Topps football cards.

His football memorabilia had been featured in local and national publications. He didn't have a favorite team, Grabner said, but was happy whenever Penn State won and Notre Dame lost.

Mr. Kirby graduated from Upper Darby High School, where he was on the track team. He competed in the Penn Relays and won a gold medal in 1936 for the half-mile race. He turned down a college scholarship to help support his family and went to work for Sun Oil.

During World War II he served in the Navy in the Pacific as a radarman aboard the Gilmer, a destroyer.

After his discharge he returned to Sun Oil. He retired in the 1980s.

He and his wife, Eleanor, enjoyed winters in Florida. They met at a swim club and married in 1947. She died in 1996.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Kirby is survived by daughters Susan Hallowell and Leslie Lare, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. today at the Donohue Funeral Home, 43 W. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, where friends may call after 9:30.

Burial will be in Arlington Cemetery, Drexel Hill.