Peter S. Kirby

Peter Stenwall Kirby, 63, of Cambridge, MA, died March 23, 2026, following a courageous battle with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Peter was born in New York City on August 27,1962, the son of William and Ann (Pfohl) Kirby. He grew up with his large, loving family in Forest Hills Gardens, Queens, commuting with his siblings to Saint David’s School in Manhattan. Peter graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy ‘80, Harvard University (A.B. ’84), and UVA’s Darden Business School (M.B.A. ’91). He was multilingual, learning to speak French fluently through his studies at St. David’s and Exeter and his junior year in Rennes, France with the School Year Abroad program. At Harvard, Peter’s linguistic efforts turned to Japanese; his studies would change the course of his life personally and professionally. After graduating from Harvard, Peter taught English to Japanese students at a school just north of Tokyo through the prestigious Monbusho English Fellows Program (now known as the JET Programme). Peter became enamored with the Japanese people and culture and sought employment in Japan after completing his year-long Fellowship.

Peter began his career in Japan as a consultant with Asia Advisory Group under the leadership of James Abegglen, where he spent three formative years. During this time, he met his future wife, Kyoko Ono, and the two maintained a long-distance relationship when he returned to the United States to pursue his M.B.A. Peter graduated at the top of his class from Darden in 1991, and he and Kyoko were married in Tokyo later that same year. He then continued his work with Abegglen as a principal at Gemini Consulting, which had acquired Asia Advisory Group.

After a brief stint in London following the wedding, the newlyweds returned to Tokyo. Kyoko gave birth to Alex, the first of their five children, in Tokyo in 1995. Seeking to put down roots in the States, the family relocated to Cambridge, MA in 1997, settling into their longtime home on Oxford Street. Following the move, Peter left Gemini and started working with Mainspring, Inc., a strategy consulting e-business startup, helping lead it from a handful of consultants to over two hundred, with a successful IPO in 2000. IBM Global Business Services acquired Mainspring in 2001, beginning Peter’s 13-year career with IBM. Meanwhile, living on Oxford Street, Peter and Kyoko welcomed two daughters to their family: Chiaki (1998) and Megumi (2001).

In 2003, Peter, Kyoko, and their growing family returned to Tokyo as expats, with Peter taking a position in IBM’s Tokyo office. Peter’s understanding of Japanese culture and business practices was invaluable, and he was promoted numerous times during his seven years in Tokyo, ultimately leading all business and consulting services for IBM Japan. Peter was the only non-Japanese person to lead IBM’s Tokyo office to that point in time. While in Tokyo, Peter and Kyoko were blessed with their third and fourth daughters, Sachiko (2004) and Miyuki (2008).

Peter and his family returned to Cambridge in 2010, where he continued working for IBM until he elected to accept a buyout and effectively retired in 2013. Peter served on several corporate boards but chose to devote most of his time to his family. He focused a great deal of time and effort on educating and interacting with his youngest child Miyuki, who was born with Down syndrome, and was present for and actively involved in all his children’s lives. Peter later said the opportunity to leave IBM and focus on his children and other interests was a blessing, given his subsequent cancer diagnosis.

Peter’s interests were varied. He was athletic and loved running, biking, and skiing. He also loved the outdoors and especially cherished spending time in the Adirondacks with family and friends at the Kirby family house that he helped to build during his summer after graduating from Harvard. Peter was also passionate about the environment. He loved cars – specifically, EVs – and owned every Tesla model at some point before turning his attention to Rivian. Peter was the proud owner of a Rivian R1S, and was on the waitlist for the Rivian R2. Peter served as Board Chair and Acting Executive Director of Climate XChange, a nonprofit that seeks to achieve a rapid and equitable transition towards a zero-emissions economy by advancing state climate policy. He used his love of EVs as a fundraising mechanism for Climate XChange, developing an annual raffle of one or more EVs and other prizes to support the organization.

In addition, Peter cared for those less fortunate and others facing cancer. He spent several years delivering food for the Food for Free food pantry until his health prevented him from continuing. His last cause was most personal to him—helping to spur research to defeat cancer. Peter led a family team in the 50-mile Pan Mass Challenge Dana Farber fundraiser in August of 2025, personally achieving “Heavy Hitter” status. Upon his death, Peter donated tumor cells to aid Dr. Wenxin “Vincent” Xu’s research to help future cancer patients overcome this insidious disease.

Peter is survived by his wife Kyoko, his son Alex and daughter-in-law Gabby, his daughters Chiaki, Megumi, Sachiko, and Miyuki, his mother Ann Kirby, and his two loyal dogs Maverick and Haku. Peter’s father, William J. Kirby, passed away in 2003, and his brother Andrew died in 2020. Peter is also survived by his brothers William Jr. (Anne) and Brian (Mona); his sisters Mathis Powelson (Stephen), Paula (Peter McWhinnie), and Julia Vien (George); and many loving nieces and nephews. His family will miss his intellect and counsel, his engaging personality and smile, his sense of humor, his reassuring presence, and his steadfast love and support.

A Funeral Mass for Peter will be held at Saint Peter Parish in Cambridge on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at 11:00 AM. Peter faithfully attended Mass at Saint Peter’s, where Miyuki volunteers as an altar server. A private family burial service will be held in the Adirondacks sometime this summer. Donations in Peter’s name may be made to Climate XChange, the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, School Year Abroad, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (attn: Dr. Wenxin Xu’s Research Fund), or Saint Peter Parish.

To view a livestream of Peter's Funeral Mass, please visit this link on Saturday morning, https://www.harborview.live/ 

Climate XChange: https://climate-xchange.org/donate/

Mass Down Syndrome Congress: https://mdsc.app.neoncrm.com/forms/mdsc-donation-form

School Year Abroad: https://www.sya.org/alumni-friends/ways-to-give

Dana Farber: http://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/goto/PeterKirby

Saint Peter Parish:  https://www.osvhub.com/saintpetercambridge/giving/funds

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