Creola Mae Starnes' Obituary
Creola Mae Starnes of 6417 Lancaster Hwy, Waxhaw, N.C. died on April 27, just short of her 103rd birthday, as the result of a fall suffered on April 7. Born May 13, 1912 in Lancaster, S.C., she was the first child of the late Earl and Helen Burgess Starnes to survive child birth. She was pre-deceased by a younger sister and brother, Leona Cox Eller and Earl Clarence Starnes. Creola spent her early childhood years in Arkansas where her parents moved in order to homestead. The family returned to N.C. and Union County when Creola was 13.
Creola was married to Theron P. Starnes for sixty years before being widowed in 1989. They birthed 5 children. Helen Corine Starnes Waterman (Mrs. Don), predeceased her. Surviving her are: Melvin Duane Starnes and wife Sue; Mattie Ann "Marsha" Starnes Johnston; T. Paul Starnes, Jr and wife Judy; and Larry Merle Starnes and wife Rhonda. Creola and Theron lived in the Concord-Kannapolis area some 30 - 35 years while the children were growing up, and were active in church and civic endeavors there before moving to The Methodist Children's Home in Winston-Salem where they served as house parents. They returned to Union County and their beloved Bethlehem Methodist Church Community in the late sixties.
Creola lived during a sea of change in the history of our country-having experienced pioneer days, the industrial revolution, the introduction of the horseless carriage and our massive system of highways, the introduction of airplanes and space craft, and the advent of television and the electronic age. She also lived through the drudgery of the Depression, two world wars and numerous other international conflicts.
Throughout this "sea of change", Creola lived with honor: writing a religion column in the predecessor to the Monroe Enquirer-Journal while a teenager; as a devoted wife and mother, raising and educating five children with character and Christian values; earning a business degree from Evans Business College while in her forties; being a substitute mother to children of working mothers through her pioneering work in establishing the first church day care center in Kannapolis; her work with abandoned or orphaned children through her Children's Home ministry; being an advocate for and comfort giver for seniors and their caregivers through her work as President of the Union County Chapter of AARP; achieving certification in Gerontology from Livingstone College while in her fifties; as an outreach worker for the Union County Council on Aging; and as a church leader and lab certified lead Sunday School teacher in the Methodist Church. She has also set an example through the intensive care of her loving and devoted husband as he encountered Alzheimer's disease, being a cheer leader to 16 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild, and otherwise being a qualitative contributor to society. She retired the second time at the age of 78.
A Service of Celebration of her life and the triumph of Christian Faith will be held at Bethlehem United Methodist Church, 5300 Nesbitt Road, Waxhaw, NC at 2:00 P.M., May 2. The family will receive visitors one hour before and after the Service in the Church Fellowship Hall. Memorials may be made to the Land Fund of Bethlehem UMC in lieu of flowers. Davis Funeral Home is serving the family. Davis Funeral Home is serving the family of Mrs. Starnes. An online guess register is available at www.davisfuneralservice.com .
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