 She was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977.Kirk largely withdrew from public life in later years, but was famously remembered for ringing a Christchurch talkback radio show in 1993 to voice her fury at Helen Clark's ousting of Mike Moore as Labour party leader.She died from cancer in Christchurch on 20 March 2000, and was buried alongside her husband at Waimate in South Canterbury.