Bobbie Kirkhart, Former Atheists United President, has Died

Members

Nov 2

Los Angeles — Bobbie Kirkhart died on October 31, 2021, in her home in Los Angeles, CA. She was 78 years old and is survived by her daughter Monica Waggoner, son-in-law Matthew Waggoner, grandsons Donovan and Raphael Waggoner, sister Marjorie Hohnbaum, and a plethora of nieces, nephews, and chosen family she had collected over her life.

Virtual Memorial Page

Bobbie was born April 16, 1943 in Enid, Oklahoma. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in 1965 before moving to Los Angeles, CA that same year.

Bobbie's first job was as a social worker for the Department of Children and Family Services. In this job, she participated in one of the first public employee strikes in the country, where their demands included, among loftier things like lower caseloads and better pay, the simple request that female social workers be allowed to wear trousers to work rather than skirts. She completed some graduate-level coursework in linguistics before divorce sent her back into the workforce. She taught in private business colleges for a few years before becoming a teacher with Los Angeles Unified School District’s Adult Division, teaching Individualized Instruction Labs, where adults (and some high school students) studied the entire gamut of high school requirements at their own pace, earning their diplomas. There, she taught math, science, geography, and history, to students from every background and corner of the world. She retired from LAUSD when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. After she recovered, she poured her energy into the freethought movement with renewed vigor.

For nearly four decades Bobbie was a fixture in atheist movement building. She served as President of both Atheist Alliance International and Atheists United, served on the board of Camp Quest and the advisory board for Humanist Association of Nepal, helped form the Secular Coalition for America, and was an informal advisor and mentor to dozens of freethought leaders. Bobbie had spoken to freethought groups throughout the United States, and had addressed atheists and humanists in Canada, Germany, France, India, Ireland, Nigeria and Cameroon. She also was a platform speaker at the first of its kind Godless Americans March in Washington, DC in 2002 and accepted the Freethought Backbone Award from the Secular Student Alliance in 2013.

In 2009, she purchased and opened up her century-old Victorian home (known as Heretic House) to speakers and local groups, giving atheists and progressive organizers a dependable and rent-free meeting space. Hundreds of fundraisers, parties, choir rehearsals, jam-sessions, board retreats, recovery meetings, and volunteer events have called Heretic House home over the last decade while dozens of well-known speakers and activists have crashed for a few nights at a time. Even through the pandemic, Heretic House has continued to host multiple events a month and plans to remain active after Bobbie's death. Bobbie was first married in 1969 to William Mason, and then divorced in 1982. She remarried in 1997 to Harvey Tippit, whom she met through Atheists United. She and Harvey traveled often and enjoyed many exotic destinations like Borneo and the Galapagos. She became a widow in 2006. Bobbie continued to travel and took her daughter, son-in-law, and grandsons on an adventure to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island, and the Antarctic Peninsula in 2019 which would be her last major trip.

She will be remembered by her family as a loving and supportive mother and grandmother and to her community as one of the most generous, involved, and forward-thinking organizers of her time.

My mom loved the freethought community as much as it has loved her. We benefit greatly from her work to bring together a supportive community, and we appreciate everyone’s thoughts and ‘hands that help’ in this time.
-- Monica Waggoner, Bobbie’s Daughter

In the 24-hours since news broke of her death, freethought leaders from across the world have been sharing their thoughts and stories about Bobbie’s impact on the world. A few highlights:

Today we mourn the death of an irreplaceable atheist icon. She was an activist, organizer, author, mentor, and mother that for almost four decades tirelessly shaped and guided Atheists United and its sister organizations around the world. Bobbie always liked to remind us that humans do not “pass” or “go to a better place” but simply die and reach the end of a journey we call life. To rephrase a line Bobbie once wrote about another former Atheists United President after their death, “she did not have, nor wish for, a soul, and she does not now live in heaven. She lives in the hearts of many friends, and she resides in the center of Atheists United, the community she worked so hard to build.”
-- Evan Clark, Executive Director, Atheists United

Bobbie was a treasure to the atheist movement in America, and a treasure to each of us as well. There was no more wonderful place to be than in her home, with her guests. Bobbie left her mark on everyone she came to know, and I'm sorry she is no longer with us.
-- Debbie Allen, Executive Director, Secular Coalition for America

Bobbie's kindness, her generosity, and her commitment to collaboration have had a profound impact on our community and on the cause of equality for atheists across the nation. One of my first experiences within organized atheism was seeing Bobbie's hospitality first-hand after she opened her home to dozens of leaders of atheist, humanist, and secular groups from all across the country. That spoke to who she was: someone who was deeply invested in bringing people together for a common purpose and who knew how to make us all feel welcome and valued.
Our community has lost a tremendous person who was admired and adored by so many of us. Her presence and wisdom will unquestionably be missed, but her memory and the effects of her years of work will live on with all of us who knew her.
-- Nick Fish, President, American Atheists

Bobbie Kirkhart was one of Camp Quest's earliest and staunchest supporters. She dedicated not just her time, but her tremendous energy and enthusiasm to promoting the vision and mission of Camp Quest. We will miss her, but I know her values will live on in our community.
-- Sarah Miller, Camp Quest Executive Director

Let us all take time to celebrate the life of Bobbie Kirkhart, remember her numerous accomplishments, and recognize the amazing legacy she leaves on the secular movement. Bobbie was a trailblazing woman who “got stuff done,” an intergenerational activist at the local, national and international level, and a mentor for so many in the secular movement. I am honored to have spent time with Bobbie and the special environment she created at the Heretic House to promote and advance the positive values of humanity. Through the Secular Student Alliance, we hope to amplify the small acts of our students - as Bobbie would say "for these are the acts that change the world."
-- Kevin Bolling, Secular Student Alliance Executive Director

Bobbie was my hero. She lived an interesting and rich life. The more I got the know her, the more interesting she became. It was the kind of life many of us might try to emulate. She was an early mover and shaker in the secular movement and is one of the last of that early generation that stood up when McCarthyism was still alive and well in our nation. She was always looking to support others in the secular movement and her house was always open to freethinkers. I treasure the many hours I spent talking with her on her deck during a leisurely breakfast or having an evening glass of wine on her deck. We talked about the history and characters of American secularism and her hopes for Atheist United and other local groups and her many stories from years past. She was always supportive of my work in founding recoveringfromreligion.org and interested in our programs. Her early efforts in the secular world set the stage for we who now follow in her footsteps. I will miss her as will many in the secular world. People who don’t even know who she was will reap the benefits of her life and efforts for years to come, especially those involved in Atheist Unites and the Secular Student Alliance.
-- Dr. Darrel Ray, President and Founder, Recovering from Religion

Although I met Bobbie in 2013, I had the opportunity to get to know her better when I visited Los Angeles in 2017, as one of the many guests to come through Heretic House. She had a generosity and realness to her that was very inspiring, and I learned a lot in that short time. I am in awe of her contributions to the secular community; she leaves an amazing legacy.
-- Mandisa Thomas, Founder and President of Black Nonbelievers

I met Bobbie back in July when she not only welcomed me into her home but also put together an event while I was there to meet the Atheists United community. We quickly bonded over travel stories, advocacy, philosophy, and our shared values. She is someone I really enjoyed. Bobbie was one of the most generous and inviting elders in the global non-believer’s community and I’m very grateful I had the opportunity to get to spend time and get to know her. She lived a great and full life and I will miss her.

-- Anya Overmann, President, Young Humanists International

I knew Bobbie Kirkhart for more than 35 years. I met her first in her role as a leader of the Atheist Alliance of America. When I looked for others to help found the Secular Coalition for America in 2002, Bobbie enthusiastically stepped forward and served as the first vice president while I was president. Bobbie was a freethought pioneer, and she helped build the movement to what it has become today.
Bobbie was single-minded and determined in working with atheist and humanist groups, and we benefited from her insights on how we could progress through cooperation with each other. Over the succeeding years, we had many conversations and laughs in the course of growing the movement. The last time I saw Bobbie was when she invited me to speak at her Heretic House in Los Angeles, and I was her overnight guest. Bobbie was always generous with her time and money, always helpful to all of us in the movement. She will be missed, though her “spirit” will remain with us for many years to come.
-- Herb Silverman, Founder, Secular Coalition for America

Bobbie was one of those people who helped us to build and organize humanism, atheism and freethought in Nigeria. She didn't only support with money, and literature, she made sure she attended events here in Nigeria and in other parts of Africa. RIP Bobbie, you will always be in my memory. Jimkelly Abegbe, Humanist from Nigeria.
--Leo Igwe, Founder, Humanist Association of Nigeria