JOY STARR

STARR JOY SMITH STARR (Age 86) Died June 23, 2017 at the Colonial Poplin Nursing Home, Fremont, NH. She was born May 1, 1931 in Rockford, IL, daughter of the late George Leonard Smith and Bradie (Baker) Smith. Joy grew up in Washington, DC. She graduated from Holton Arms School, Washington, DC and went on to attend Wheaton College in Norton, MA graduating in 1953. During the 1950's, Joy served in the United States Marine Corp. She was a freelance writer for many years and her articles appeared in the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor and other publications. She also wrote a column on historical subjects for a local newspaper in Northern Virginia. She married Nicholas Starr at the Navy Chapel, Washington, DC in 1963 and for the next 35 years they lived in Fairfax County, Virginia while her husband worked for the federal government. Joy was a dedicated genealogist, researching her own early New England and southern roots and she served as a professional genealogist with the DAR. Mrs. Starr was an active member of many lineage societies including the Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry, Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors, National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company and others. Joy was a longtime volunteer at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. She took up poetry in later life, and published one book of poems. She traveled extensively in Europe and the Caribbean, and lived with their two sons in Geneva, Switzerland while her husband was participating in the SALT Two negotiations with the Soviets. Her husband retired following a near-fatal gunshot wound by an Islamic terrorist in 1993. Several years later, they decided to spend their retirement years in Exeter, where her father, George Leonard Smith, was born and raised. He was a prolific inventor, who attended Phillips Exeter Academy before graduating from the US Naval Academy in 1898. Failing health caused her to move to Colonial Poplin Nursing Home in October, 2013. She is survived by her husband, Nicholas Starr, two children, Richard Kimball Starr of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands and Peter Tristram Starr of Stratham, NH, three grandchildren, Alexandra Starr of St. Croix and Jacob Starr and Liam Starr both of Stratham, NH, three cousins in Exeter, Peter A. Smith, Joanna Pellerin, and William Johnson. A private burial will be held in Exeter Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115. For more information, please visit www.brewittfuneralhome.com