Noble Starr | Passages
Published 2:51 pm Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Noble W. Starr went to be with the Lord on October 23, 2015, following a period of declining health. He lived at the Village at the Harbor in Friday Harbor where he was lovingly cared for since 2011.
Born in Redwood Falls, Minn., he was the youngest of 8 children born to William Carey Starr and Oma Edla Saunders. He moved to Santa Ana, Ca. , where he married June Borkenhagen on September 6, 1938. Their children, Thomas and Susan, were born in the Los Angeles area, where he got started in the grocery business. He was drafted into the Army and received the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in the Battle of the Bulge.
Noble rose quickly through the ranks as a Gerber’s Baby Food Salesman and Nabisco Products Sales Representative. On his way to becoming a Director of Marketing, he and June spent time in various parts of the country and a five year stint in Germany.
Retiring to Friday Harbor in 1981, the Starrs were able to watch their Grandchildren play sports and be with them as they grew up. Noble loved dixieland jazz and was on the board of the San Juan Island Dixieland Jazz Assn. He and son Tom formed the Argyle St. Jazz Band, and played their music in the San Juan Island dixieland Jazz festival and various venues on San Juan Island. Noble was a member of the San Juan Lions Club and loved the Tuesday meetings with his fellow Lions in the basement of the American Legion Hall.
He was preceded in death by his wife June, in November of 2003. After spending 6 years alone in their Winter home in Indio, CA., Noble was persuaded by his family to move back to Friday Harbor, where he became a regular at the FridayHarbor Presbyterian Church and many music performances around town.
Noble is survived by his son Tom, and daughter Susan of Claremont, NH. Susan and her husband Bill are the parents of Chris and Julie, of San Diego and Idaho. Tom and wife Pam have four children: Son Craig and wife Marianne in FridayHarbor; Daughter Amy and her son Aaron in Spokane: Son Nigel and wife Diantha with daughters Hailey and Delaney in Renton; and Jamie and husband Jeff Bambrick with sons Jackson and Joey in Puyallup, WA.
A memorial service for Starr occured on Nov. 2, at the Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church.
His family is blessed to have had him in their lives to the ripe old age of 96.
