Sue and Amos Starr

2022 - 2022

Sue and Amos Starr
December 18, 2022 - December 23, 2022
Orangevale, California - Shortly after her 86th birthday, Sue Starr passed away peacefully in her home on December 18, 2022; surrounded by family and a loving caregiver. She had never fully recovered from a head injury suffered in 2019 during a stumble one Sunday morning as she headed out the door for the traditional weekly Sunday brunch with family.
Five days later, shortly after his 91st birthday, her husband, Amos Starr passed away in their home on December 23, 2022, also, surrounded by family, his wife's loving caregiver, and a caregiver from Smile Awhile Care Agency. He died of a broken heart during the last few years as he saw his beloved wife gradually becoming a paler and frailer version of her previously vibrant self. They had been married for 68 and a half years.
Sue was named Susan Linda Barbara when born on December 12, 1936, in a Norwegian community north of Seattle, Washington, at the home of her parents Hazel and Antone. The community included aunties, uncles, and cousins who were important in her life. As a little girl, she was called Susie and then decided to be Sue Lindy as a teenager, Sue as an adult.
Amos was born on December 16, 1931, along a road in Texas, while his mother and older siblings headed home after a long day of picking cotton. His parents were Mamie and Lemuel Starr.
Amos and Sue are an amazing story of hard work, intelligence, fierce determination, and the devotion of a couple to each other in overcoming lives that had started with adversity and poverty. Through the years, they demonstrated unconditional love and loyalty to family.
Amos was the 7th of 11 children. His mother moved the family to Louisiana, closer to her family, as his father, a baker who could not find work, had left home during the depression so that his wife and children would be able to get food and gas for the stove. His father returned sporadically to try to help the family but left one day for California.
In 1941, when Amos was 10 years old, their father sent $75 for traveling expenses and told the family to come to California. The entire family worked along the way picking fruit, living in a tent.
Truly the land of milk and honey, Amos would later say, as their father was a beekeeper on a dairy near Modesto, but those first years were tough. The family's house burned down, so they again lived in a tent.
Amos was helped to get a job at a dairy when he was 16 by his sister's husband, whose family lived in a small house on the diary property. When 17, his older brothers helped Amos get a job in the construction field, putting lath and plaster onto the many houses being built around Los Angeles. He carried hod, the hardest job. He worked and saved money.
When it appeared likely to Amos that he would be drafted to serve in the Korean War, he signed up instead as a medic and was sent to Joint Base Fort Lewis-McCord near Tacoma, WA. That was the most fortunate thing for our family, as Amos was invited by an army buddy to attend the Seventh-Day Adventist church in Seattle one Saturday where his buddy enticed him by saying, "There are lots of cute girls."
Amos met Sue Lindy on June 4, 1954, and they got better acquainted that afternoon over ping pong games at the church social. Amos was smitten and after seeing her just a few more times, he asked her to marry him.
Our mother was an amazing and determined young woman. She was only 17, had just finished her first year of college, and wasn't certain the timing was right.
She thought Amos was a good prospect but wanted to be sure he knew and agreed to what she intended in her life. He was discharged from the army only a week after meeting her and left to return to California where he awaited her response. Sue Lindy wrote Amos a letter immediately to tell him that she planned to have five children, that they would all need to attend the church schools as she had (an expensive proposition compared to public schools), and that she would finish her college degree.
He immediately agreed to these terms and sent a letter back suggesting they get married right away. (Our mother kept all these letters.) Since her mother needed time to make her wedding dress, the date was set for July 4, 1954.
After the wedding in Seattle, they drove to Los Angeles and rented a very small house belonging to Amos's brother, our Uncle John. Our dad was working during the day and going to night school, but our mother was lonely being so far from home, and told him that she wanted a baby right away. Their first child was born the next year, another baby the following year, then after that three more, just as she had planned.
Sue was a creative, playful, and intelligent mother who was always teaching. On hikes we learned the names of flowers and trees and birds; we learned fractions while cooking to double recipes.
Our dad, Amos, was mostly working and helping to build a church and school in Orangevale, CA, where they had moved due to more opportunities for him to start a business as a plastering contractor. Our mother did his books and payroll for many years.
Both our mother and dad encouraged us to read avidly, do well in school and try many adventures. Our dad filled our home's pastures over the years with horses and ponies; he bought motorbikes and tried to get all to learn to ride. He worked towards a pilot's license and owned a plane; telling us later about some harrowing experiences.
Our mother played the piano at home, practicing for church each week; she taught us many songs. She used her creativity to make our homes cheerful and pretty, as she sewed curtains and taught us those necessary skills. As she aged, our mother filled her home with her favorite collectibles, many of which she gave to her grandchildren.
We now realize how lucky we were to have young and energetic parents who spent time outside with their kids. Almost every summer weekend they took us to the mountains for camping along wild creeks; pointing out salamanders and crawdads and spots where raccoons had been washing their food.
Both parents were frugal and conscientious from early childhoods during the depression; they agreed together to put their money into property. We remember going with our mother to clean rentals after a tenant had left and getting jobs from our dad at an early age, usually, drudgery for kids to clean up job sites, so we worked reluctantly but learned through the years.
Both parents felt that education was valuable and at age 35, our mother re-entered college and finished her degree in 1975, just as she'd set for her goal 20 years before. She demonstrated to her children that all things were possible with determination. Then started a construction business with her sister and built quite a few houses.
Our dad worked constantly (except one day a week from sundown to sundown) and attended many meetings. His first company in Sacramento was with his older brother Levi and then later Starr Plastering was composed of Amos and his younger twin brothers, Royce and James. After many years in business, he became president of the Sacramento Lath and Plastering Association.
Our parents had a curiosity and love for other cultures, so we were happy to see them experience the world as they became financially better off towards the end of their lives; traveling around the U.S., China, Argentina, and Peru; taking the family to Norway to meet a much larger part of our mother's family who had remained there, and taking our dad's dream trip- cruising through the Panama Canal.
Most of all, our parents taught us by example to love, help, and be committed to your marriage partner; through good times and bad. We're grateful they made it for over 68 years.
Many will miss Amos and Sue Starr. Their legacy will live on through memories held by many. They are survived by their five children, Jaclyn-Cindy, Jolene, Shari, Donald, and Larry; six grandchildren, three great-granddaughters; Sue's sister Nancy, her brother Jerome; Amos's sister Leona, his brother Royce; and many nieces and nephews.
We feel fortunate to have had Amos and Sue as our parents and hope people will join us for a memorial service honoring both on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, 12:00 p.m., at Chapel of the Pines, 2855 Cold Springs Road, Placerville, CA.