Kirkpatrick left the political arena and became associated with Allied Chemical and Superior Oil companies. On August 14, 1967, the trustees of Baptist-affiliated Baton Rouge General Hospital named Kirkpatrick as the hospital administrator.<ref name=br>Baton Rouge Biography on Internet:http://ref-raff.wikispaces.com/Baton+Rouge+-+Biography+-+Kirkpatrick,+Claude</ref> He was elevated to president of the hospital in 1970 and served in that capacity until 1981. Dr. Charles Prosser, a fellow hospital director and friend of Kirkpatrick's, recalled him as "a man of many talents and a most affable fellow who got things done by impressing people with their importance and worth. He . . . did a splendid job . . . and that says a lot about him as a person."<ref name=brma>"State official, civic leader Claude Kirkpatrick dies at 79," ''The Baton Rouge Advocate,'' January 15, 1997, p. 7A.</ref>
Similarly, Tom Sawyer, later the chief executive officer of the hospital, described Krkpatrick as "very compassionate [with] a great empathy for people, and he really loved hospital work. ... He viewed his job as more of a ministry than a job. That was the kind of outlook he had on things."<ref name=brma/>
After leaving the hospital position, Kirkpatrick established three shopping centers in Baton Rouge: Delmont, Highland Road, and Drusilla. Over the years, Kirkpatrick was Southwest Louisiana vice president of the Calcasieu Area [[Boy Scouts]]. He was active in the [[United Way]] charitable fund, the Kiwanis International, and the American Heart Association.<ref name=br/> He was a [[deacon]] in several [[Baptist]] churches for fifty-eight years, his last membership having been at First Baptist in Baton Rouge. He and Mrs. Kirkpatrick were active in all aspects of Baptist church governance and outreach. He was a past chairman and member of the Louisiana College board of directors. He served on the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Board. In Baton Rouge, he was the first president of the Federation of Churches and Synagogues as well as a charter member there of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick studied for a time at the [[Juilliard School]] in [[New York City]] and much later obtained a [[Master of Arts]] degree in [[music]] from [LSU in Baton Rouge. At times, she taught voice music at both LSU and McNeese State University in Lake Charles. At the invitation of Governor [[Edwin Edwards]], she served from 1977 to 1989 on the Louisiana Board of Regents, a panel created by the state constitution of 1974 to govern public higher education institutions.<ref name=statement/>
During the 1963 gubernatorial campaign, Mrs. Kirkpatrick published a 38-page song book entitled ''Louisiana Let's Sing,'' a collection of favorite songs ranging from ''[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]'' to ''[[Jingle Bells]]'' compiled especially for her husband.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.antiqbook.com/boox/gaq/028504.shtml|title=''Louisiana Let's Sing''|publisher=antiqbook.com|date=1963|accessdate=Unavailable}}</ref>
Kirkpatrick died in the Baton Rouge General Hospital that he had once managed, having earlier underwent five [[heart]] bypasses. He is interred at Green Oaks Memorial Park in Baton Rouge. In addition to his wife and three living children, Kirkpatrick was survived by a brother, G. Truett Kirkpatrick (1921–2007) of Lake Charles, and five grandchildren. Another brother, Augustus C. Kirkpatrick (1914–1996)<ref name=ssdi/> of Lake Charles was the former tax assessor of Calcasieu Parish. After Kirkpatrick's death, Mrs. Kirkpatrick deposited her husband's papers on request at McNeese State University.