Hastings High Alumn Paved Way In Journalism

Deb Hardin Quirk paved the way for women in journalism in Hastings in many ways. Quirk continued using her ground-breaking personality in community involvements later in her life.

Quirk was born in Hastings in 1950 and attended Hastings Senior High School. She was involved in band and Tiger Cub and was Editor-in-Chief of Tiger Cub during her senior year. She graduated from Hastings High in 1968.

During high school, Quirk also announced at Duncan Field for American Legion baseball games and even had her own radio show on KHAS radio. Quirk was the youngest person in Hastings to receive a radio engineer’s license, which was a requirement for anyone working in radio at the time and was only issued by the Federal Communications Commission.  

“I think she liked holding people accountable. People, powerful people accountable for the decisions they made that affected people. That was important to her,” said Deb Quirk’s son Rob Quirk.

After graduating high school, Quirk went on to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications from the University of Denver. She returned to Hastings for a year and took a job at KHAS radio before attending Northwestern College, where she received a Master’s Degree in Journalism.

“And after that, she spent a little time trying to get a reporter’s job in Denver, but it didn’t really work out and was sort of hard for women in the mid-1970s,” Rob Quirk said.

In 1973, Quirk returned to Hastings and became the Director of Campus Services at Central Technical Community College. Quirk held this position for several years before she began working at Quirk Land and Cattle Co. with her husband, John Quirk.

“[She was] very no-nonsense, knew a lot of stuff. She and I both were very excited about being in Hastings, it’s her hometown, it was my hometown, and the opportunity for women to try to do things they’ve never done before,”  Sharon Brooks, a longtime friend of Quirk’s said.

While working with her husband, Quirk became more involved in the community. Quirk, who was passionate about women’s golf, served on the Lochland Country Club board and was a leader in the women’s golf association. She was also a member of the Hastings Torch Club and served on the Hastings Planning Commission. 

“[She was] very dedicated to whatever project she was working on. I think she was willing to hear new facts and change her mind,” Rob Quirk said. “She also had a really good sense of humor. She was kind of funny, and I think always sort of wanted to be helpful. She really wanted to be as helpful as possible to people in her life.”

Quirk also served two terms on the Adams Central School Board from 2000 to 2008. During her time on the board, Quirk was the chair of the building committee during the planning and construction of the new gym.

“She had been in the building committee that built the new gym and I happened to be the valedictorian of the first class that graduated from the new gym,” Rob Quirk said. “So I think she felt very happy, and it was on Mother’s Day. So I think she really felt very proud of that.”

Along with her involvement in the community, Quirk was involved in various civic engagements. Quirk was heavily involved in politics at the local level, specifically with the Adams County Democrats.

“I think she had a strong sense of fairness and wanted the world to be a more fair place and a place where the people who had power were held accountable,” Rob Quirk said. “And that drove her motivation and a lot of her civic engagements.

Quirk served one term as the chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party. She was the first woman to hold this position, and she is one of the four women to ever hold this position.

“I think one of her defining characteristics is she really, really cared a lot about fairness, like she was reasonably bothered when people succeeded by not following the rules,” Rob Quirk said. “She believed that rules and doing things the right way existed so that everybody had an opportunity, a fair opportunity to do things.”

Quirk was also a member of the Hastings chapter of Business and Professional Women. She served one term as the organization’s statewide president in 1984.

“I would say she was very dedicated and passionate about things she cared about. She was always looking for ways to make things better,” Rob Quirk said. “And then if she had criticisms, it was because she really cared about something and not because she was trying to be negative or mean about it.” 

Quirk’s legacy of passion for what she cared about continued through the donation of 12 Mackbook Airs to Tiger Cub in her memory.

“I think (the donation) could work more directly and meaningful. I think the Tiger Cub meant more to her,” Rob Quirk said. “I think she ended up living in Hastings most of her life, and the impact of the direct media.”