While attending OU he enrolled in Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) and eventually saw active duty in a field artillery command in the European theater of World War II.

Lucrative financial settlements in his legal profession allowed Shirk to pursue his passion, namely writing and publishing on unique topics in Oklahoma history.

[1] During this tenure he was successful in obtaining matching grants for the OHS after being appointed as State Historical Preservation Officer.

[4] Shirk was appointed acting Mayor of Oklahoma City on June 16, 1964, to complete the remainder of the term of Jack S. Wilkes.

[4] In addition to completing the Lake Atoka project that he advocated in the 1950s, Shirk also obtained the adoption of a comprehensive downtown re-development plan envisioned by architect I.M.

In 1969, Shirk and three other persons lead a small expedition to explore a section of catacombs associated with an old Chinese-American neighborhood in downtown Oklahoma City, located underneath the construction site of the Myriad Convention Center which was a part of Shirk's downtown redevelopment plan.