Starr Lee Runyon, 73, of Jasper, FL, passed away peacefully on September 23, 2024, at the Suwannee Valley Nursing Center where the nursing and then hospice staff had provided loving care for several years.

Starr was born 20 January 1951 to Charles Edwin "Bud" Runyon, Jr., and Mary Celeste McCall Runyon. She was descended from the established Hamilton County McCall and Bradshaw families on her mother's side and the Irvin and Runyon families of Western Pennsylvania on her father's.

One of her great loves was education and she took pride in graduating from Valdosta High School and Valdosta State College (now University). As a lifelong educator herself, Starr was most proud of earning her master's degree in elementary education from the University of Florida later in life. Her teaching career included stints as a para pro at Greenwood School, Jasper, and in elementary schools in Steinhatchee and Palatka, among others. She was dedicated to the institutions that propelled her in life, being a proud Valdosta Wildcat and a University of Florida Gator, where she and her mother attended many football games as members of the Gator Boosters.

Although married for a short time in the late-1970s, she never had children of her own. Instead, she dedicated herself to her classroom students and a series of tiny dogs, including Pomeranians and Chihuahuas. Outside of the classroom, she followed the latest celebrity gossip, was a fan of early rock music, especially Elvis Presley, and she shared a love of daytime soap operas with her mother. Her niece and nephew remember Aunt Starr as the "fun aunt," the one who loved to go with them to the Jennings Holiday Inn pool, had inflatable living room furniture, and cruised around town in a convertible. She was spontaneous, full of life, and a natural storyteller who channeled her bubbly personality into a side hustle as a party clown.

After being away from Jennings for several decades, Starr moved back to Jennings to care for her mother. Though her spirit was nearly broken after losing her brother, Charles, in 2001, her mother, Mary, in 2004, and finally her beloved Chihuahua Bandit, she always lit up when sharing remembrances with longtime friends.

Starr is survived by her sister-in-law Dorothy Williams of Live Oak, FL; nephew, Charles Brent Runyon of Providence, RI; niece, Nikki Wood (Marty); great-nephew Christopher Wood (Dara) of Cairo, GA; her great-niece Victoria Wood and great-great-niece Aliannah Wood of Jasper, FL; and her many cousins and friends.

She was also preceded in death by her beloved father, Charles E. Runyon, Jr.

Starr's life will be honored at a memorial service on Monday, October 14th, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. at Sassers Landing Cemetery in Jennings, FL.