Not bad for a guy who "never really was much of a camper. He did some. But he was more of an inventor really, just a pretty ingenious inventor," said his son, Jack Jr., who took over for his dad in running Kirkham's Outdoor Products in South Salt Lake.

The elder Kirkham passed away at his Sandy home on Sunday, one day shy of his 90th birthday. He leaves behind a legacy of a thriving family business, begun in 1944, and of a sturdy tent that made car camping easily doable - even comfortable - at a time when outdoor recreation just started appealing to the masses.

w=8.2 Through the early '60s, "most tents came from sheepherders or ranchers or whatever they were using in the military. There were lots of poles and lots of ropes," Kirkham Jr. said. "The Springbar definitely simplified things. The simplicity really made camping more accessible to a lot more people." o

Born in 1918 in Lehi to Arthur and Nettra Peterson Kirkham, Jack Sr. was a South High School student when he got a job working for a relative who had an awning business. After a stint as a draftsman at a shipyard during World War II, he returned to Salt Lake City and bought AAA Tent and Awning.

"He just really like the atmosphere of being around the shop and the sewing machines," said his son. "He had a real desire to do something independent. And he really loved creating things."

Starting with two employees in a 1,200-square-foot building on 200 South, Kirkham eventually secured at least seven patents on tent designs, including one for his trademark Springbar tent and another for developing the modular concept of putting together "rooms" to fit a family's size and need.

Profiled in The Salt Lake Tribune in April of 1973, Kirkham said he came up with many ideas by setting up tents in his yard and figuring what worked and what didn't.

Kirkham also said he did not believe camping was just a craze or a fad, contending people had a "fundamental" need to "meet a physical challenge against nature." And he could help, he added, because "the need for portable shelter will never disappear."

All kinds of tents are on the market now. But so is the Springbar.

"The Springbar tent remains an iconic tent here in Utah for family camping, for car camping. It's just a unique, innovative tent in its design," said Peter Metcalf, chief executive of Black Diamond Equipment Ltd.

And, he added, "Kirkham's remains to this day one of the leading stand-alone outdoor retail specialty shops in America. There's not many stores of that caliber left."

Kirkham also designed a canvas luggage carrier for the top of vehicles before retiring in 1990, spending much of his leisure time since then riding horses, fishing and painting outside of the family cabin above Woodland.

He is survived by his son, Jack (Cheryl) and two daughters, Kathy (Scott) Lombardi and Carol Mathews Goulais; nine grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and sister, Ruth Nielson. He was preceded in death by his wife, Elna Mae Jensen Kirkham, and two brothers.

Services are scheduled at 11 a.m. Saturday at Jenkins-Soffe Funeral Chapel, 4760 S. State St. Friends may call there from 6-8 p.m. today. He will be buried in Murray City Cemetery.