LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Music echoed through Louisville's Portland Memorial Baptist Church Sunday for a celebration of life for Rev. Charles Edward Kirby.
Kirby, a prominent pastor and civil rights activist, died last Monday at age 96.
Kirby was a man of his faith -- the founder and a pastor of the Southern Star Baptist Church in the Algonquin neighborhood for 53 years.
"I'm just ready to celebrate him because he's done so much for not only just me, but for the community, this country and everything," said his son and pastor Stephan Kirby.
Friends and family gathered for his celebration of life on Sunday evening.
Kirby was a leader in the civil rights movement who organized with Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson, Ralph Abernathy, Joseph Lowery and others in the 1960's, according to Stephan.
Stephan said his father's activism motivated "the people to do what's right in different areas."
"He was always fighting for justice, people's right to vote, people to have a place to live," Stephan said.
Kirby was among 10,000 people from Kentucky who demonstrated in Frankfort for a Public Accommodation Bill in 1964. Among them was Martin Luther King Jr.
Kirby was inducted in the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2012 for the 1967 marches with other leaders that ultimately helped pass the Kentucky Fair Housing Act.
Stephan said when he thinks of his father, two words come to mind: "passionate" and "leader." He said it's because of his father's care for the community.
"What was important to him was the welfare of the people and the care for the people, and making sure everybody else was well," Stephan said.
He described his father's sermons.
"His power, his voice, his honesty, his passion for the preaching, and his passion for the singing, he was really a passionate person," Stephan said.
Among the lifetime of lessons, Stephan said there's one from his father that he'll carry in his heart forever.
"Preach like it's my last time," Stephan said. "In other words, whatever you do, make it like it's your last time because you never know."