Daryle "Starky" Starkovich

1938 - 2011

Daryle (Starky) Starkovich Daryle Thomas Starkovich, 72, of Cle Elum, known widely and fondly as Starky, passed away peacefully at his home on March 2, 2011.

A memorial service will be held Friday, March 11, 2011, at 3 p.m. at the Centennial Center Senior Center, 719 E. 3rd Street, Cle Elum.

Daryle was born June 12, 1938, in Ronald to Thomas and Mary (Mollo) Starkovich. He attended the Ronald School through 8th grade and graduated from Cle Elum High School in 1956. He graduated with a B.A. in education from Central Washington State College in 1962.

Prior to embarking on a career in education that lasted more than 30 years, and during some of the summer months when he was teaching, Daryle held various jobs in the mountains and forests he loved so much. He worked as a logger and for the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources, Boise Cascade and the U.S. Forest Service. His Forest Service experience included a stint in the summer of 1958 at the North Cascades Smokejumper Base in Winthrop, Wash., where his feats of physical strength and endurance were legendary. His first teaching position was in the town of Coulee Dam, where he met Donna, a colleague whom he married in 1965. His career as an educator featured stops at East Wenatchee, Nespelem and Kittitas before he returned home to the Cle Elum-Roslyn School District, where he taught primarily at Cle Elum Elementary. He was a school administrator while at Nespelem, and served as a coach and athletic official for much of his teaching career, which concluded with retirement in 1993.

Following retirement, Daryle focused his energy on his hay farm east of Cle Elum, traveling with and enjoying the company of family and friends, and ferreting out the occasional yard-sale bargain. He was a regular at the morning coffee-club gathering at the Sunset Cafe as well as the winter afternoon Panguingue card games.

Daryle thoroughly enjoyed the outdoors, dedicating much of what free time he had to fishing, hunting, hiking, mushrooming, berry picking, snowmobiling, and camping. He made frequent horseback trips into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the summer, and loved to spend time at hunting camp and the family cabin at Boulder Creek during fall and winter months.

He is survived by his sons, Anthony, of North Bend, and Michael (wife Amy) of Cle Elum; grandsons, Trygve and Scout, of Cle Elum; niece Melissa (husband Justin) White and family of Redmond, Wash.; nephew Eric Kukes of Seattle; and numerous extended family members and friends. He was preceded in death by his wife Donna, his sister Rose, and his brother Darwin.

He was a member of the Roslyn Eagles, Cle Elum Lodge-Order of Sons of Italy, Croatian Fraternal Union, Cascade Field and Stream, Kittitas County Retired Teachers, and Swauk-Teanaway Grange.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Cle Elum Lodge-Order Sons of Italy Scholarship Fund (Cle Elum Sons of Italy Lodge #1968, Attn: C. Ficele, PO Box 174, So. Cle Elum, WA 98943) or the charity of your choice.

Gregarious, boisterous and undeniably unique, Daryle made an impression everywhere he went, and made scads of friends along the way. His immense personality and uninhibited nature left an indelible mark on countless individuals, some of whom knew him for more than 60 years, others who may have met him last week. Thankfully, the sadness of his passing is tempered by vibrant memories that for many of us will not fade. Rest in peace, Starky.