Walter N. Kirn Jr. ’60

A native of Akron, Ohio, Walt graduated from Buchtel High School there and excelled in all sports, particularly football and baseball, where he played center and catcher, respectively. At Princeton he played varsity in both. He joined Cannon and graduated cum laude in chemical engineering.  

He earned a master’s degree in that field at Ohio State University in 1962 and then attended George Washington University Law School, where he studied nights toward a law degree while working for DuPont Corp. in patent law. In 1968 he moved to 3M Corp. in Minneapolis, Minn., where he worked in patent litigation and traveled internationally, both of which he particularly relished.  

Walt became a vigorous outdoorsman and conservationist. He worked hard for the designation of Minnesota’s St. Croix River as a National Scenic River. He also lent his efforts, often pro bono, to numerous other environmental and conservation causes.  

Loving the mountains of the West, he retired to Montana in the mid-1990s. He later wintered in Tucson but always returned to Montana with the spring, as he did in his last days. Stricken with ALS, he was conveyed to Montana by several friends and spent his last two weeks enjoying his beloved scenery and wildlife. He died May 26, 2020. 

Walt married several times. He is survived by two sons, Walter III ’83 and Andrew, with his first wife, Mildred; and two grandchildren.