Joachim R. “Kim” Kirsten died at home in Southampton on November 24, 2019. He was 88.
The only son of Richard Kirsten and Erika Schuette, he was born in Hamburg, Germany on September 7, 1931. His family owned ships, 28 of which were lost in World War II. Mr. Kirsten, who went by “Kim,” emigrated to the United States in the early 1950s and started his own successful shipping business in 1952 and Pancontinental Marine in 1963. He was an avid traveler, a passionate lover of opera, music and ballet, and, later in life, a golf enthusiast. First and foremost, survivors said, he was a loving family man who gathered his widespread family for wonderful trips starting with numerous visits to Wyoming in the 90s and subsequent trips to Italy, Turkey, Croatia, Greece and Germany.
He is survived by his wife, Benigna; and children Christopher (Mary Ann), Michelle (Boris), Maria (Michael), Robert (Wendy) and Charles; and stepson Christopher von MitschkeCollande (Bea); nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
There will be a private funeral in Hamburg, and a memorial service in Southampton in the spring. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Brockett Funeral Home in Southampton.