Joshua Aaron Quirk

Joshua Aaron Quirk left this life on April 10, 2025, halfway to his planned 100 years. Strong, stubborn, and smart until the end, he fought hard in the ICU in Chapel Hill to get back to his beautiful life in a pink house full of art, color, and love in Durham. He infinitely expanded the hearts of his mother, Judy Ann Welsh, and father, Richard Jeffery Quirk, when he made them parents on November 2, 1974, in Lafayette, Indiana. He was an integral part of his mother’s later relocation to North Carolina, helping to raise his younger brothers Gabriel and Benjamin while she built a career in nursing. Josh brought a love of music, nature, and books to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he found a home at St. Anthony Hall, a co-ed arts and literary fraternity, and at WXYC radio, where he hosted a weekly music show for nearly 30 years.

Josh found his calling in the hospitality industry, where his sense of humor, ability to connect with people from all walks of life, and impeccable taste in music made him a beloved bartender and the unofficial mayor of Hillsborough at the Wooden Nickel Pub. He gathered similar fan bases at Beer Study, Remy’s Lounge, Criterion, Accordion Club, and Dain’s Place in Durham, where he brought his green thumb inside to nurture plants that brightened up the bars and homegrown herbs and veggies to infuse cocktails. It was at the Wooden Nickel that he met the love of his life, Meg Alcazar, who gave him a love of travel and a knack for spotting typos. Together they explored record stores, bookshops, and art museums in Belgium, France, Italy, England, Scotland, and Portugal, with a Scandinavian trip planned at the time he fell ill. A famous curmudgeon, no one was more surprised than Josh to see how much he loved being a stepdad to Meg’s teenage daughter Vera, teaching her cooking skills, taking her to concerts, and being her fiercest protector. Josh will be remembered in the blazing color of a Japanese maple tree, in the love of a homemade bowl of soup, and when you turn up the volume on a favorite song.

Josh is survived by Meg and Vera of Durham; Judy, Gabe, Ben and wife Liz of Raleigh; Jeff and wife Carlene of West Lafayette, Indiana; grandmother Jeannine Quirk of Newtown, Indiana; and scores of friends and family around the world. He is predeceased by his grandfather Bob Quirk of Newtown, Indiana, and grandparents Leo and Mildred Welsh of Covington, Indiana.

A memorial will be held in Josh’s honor at Old Murphey School in Durham on May 4, 2025 at 1pm, with many celebrations to follow. Please come and share a memory of Josh. In lieu of flowers, consider donating blood or platelets to the Red Cross or your local hospital, planting a tree in his memory, and tipping generously whenever you dine out.