Comic Art Comic Strips Illustration Obituary

Dave Kirwan – RIP

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D. D. Degg Published: April 7, 2026 Updated: April 7, 2026 1 minute 0 comments

Cartoonist, illustrator, artist Dave Kirwan has passed away.

From the obituary:

It was during his childhood spent watching late-night monster movies and creating scenery for summer theater productions that his love for drawing and painting first took hold, as did his eternal fervor for classic films.

As widely accomplished as he was adored, Dave was a syndicated cartoonist; a film collector of some note; an amateur pop culture historian; an illustrator; an animator; co-founder and creative director of Carlson and Kirwan advertising agency; and a beloved Duluth character, who was famous for his long, white beard and loud comic-print shirts.

In 1981, early in his advertising career, Dave with his brother Jim, both staff artists at the Duluth Michigan based Fochs Larson & Associates, created a very popular campaign that would be used in newspapers around the nation. The “Grimestoppers Textbook” ads would be used by laundry cleaners from North Carolina to Alaska, from New Mexico to New Jersey, and in Michigan where it originated.

As for being a syndicated cartoonist – Dave contributed comics to King Features’ The New Breed panel in 1993.

Back to the obituary:

But he was best known by many as the Grand Sheik of the local chapter of the Sons of the Desert, the official international society of Laurel and Hardy film enthusiasts. 

The monthly Sons meetings weren’t the only place Dave was able to share his enthusiasm for old comedies and cartoons.

Dave was the Grand Sheikh of the Busy Bodies tent (#60) of The Sons of the Desert.

Perfect Duluth Day ran a short autobiography by Dave ten years ago:

DK: I am today what I have been for the past forty-nine years, a commercial illustrator. People pay me to draw pictures that tell a story.

My first professional gig began on my sixteenth birthday when I was asked to augment my main duties as a cut and paste keyliner on a small weekly shopper with original cartoons and illustrations. Later on I worked at television stations, printers, publishers, was even a partner in an prominent Twin Ports ad agency for eighteen years. Yet despite official job titles of graphic designer or creative director, I have always pursued my primary avocation… I’m the guy who draws little men with big noses…