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Carolyn
Hall Starbird 1/10/1911 – 1/28/2006
Carolyn Hall Starbird, a
native of the Bay area and the wife of the late San Jose Mayor George
Starbird, died Saturday, January 28, in an Oregon nursing home. She moved
there in 2003 to be closer to two of her children living in Portland.
A celebration of her life
took place May 21 at the
San Jose
Museum of Art.
Long a fixture in the
Docent Council of the San Jose Museum of Art, Mrs. Starbird was also a member
of the Art History Club, and, earlier in her career as an active volunteer
with the Visiting Nurses Associations and the Community Chest (now United
Way). She also was a member
of the Santa Clara County Grand Jury, active with the Cub
Scouts, and assisted at the library of the Mayfair School.
Known as “Babe” to her
family, Mrs. Starbird was born at San Jose Hospital and grew up in San
Francisco and Berkeley. Home movies taken by her father, an early 8mm
enthusiast, show her with her parents and younger sister golfing and shooting on the
roof of their Green Street house in San Francisco. She attended Girls’ High
School in San Francisco and was admitted to the small cohort of co-eds who
attended Stanford in the late 1920s. She pledged to the Kappa Kappa Gamma
sorority, and was active in student musicals, where she met George, her future
husband. 
Upon graduating, the two
English majors moved to New York City, where they married in 1932. The two
struggled to eke out a living –- he as a freelance writer of pulp fiction, she as a
stenographer –- until a lucky break came in the form of an offer by a
relative in the insurance business. Their fortunes turned for the
better as George worked first in New York and then the couple moved to a new,
more opulent lifestyle in Palm Beach, Florida, where George ran an office
for the Globe Insurance Company.
This career brought the
couple, by now parents of George Anthony (Tony) Starbird, back to California
in 1938. There he joined a San Jose insurance business founded by
relatives on her side: C.A. Hall and W.T. Rambo (a firm now owned by their
second son Timothy (Tim)). They also had two daughters,
Carolyn Jane (Jane) and Susan. They lived in the Rose
Garden neighborhood, and in 1970 moved to the family ranch in the hills
above Milpitas, where Mrs.
Starbird found inspiration for the landscapes she loved to paint.
She was loved and is
mourned by large family including son Tony and wife Linda, of Portland; son
Tim and wife Jane; daughter Jane and partner Gary Peterson of
Portland; and Susan and husband Michael Riszkiewicz of Sebastopol, CA. She
also leaves grandchildren Anne (Steve), Joan, Adam (Doe), and Zack
(Jennifer), Drew (Jodi), Chris (Sarah), and
Jason (Mila), and great grandchildren: Mason, Dylan, Weston, Jake, Claire,
Joe, Jordan, Zander, Emmett, Foster, Chloe, and Casey.
Order a copy of the
"Remembering Babe"
video or find out
how to create one
A celebration of Babe's life
took place Sunday, May 21, at the San Jose Museum of Art.
Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the San Jose Museum of Art in
memory of Carolyn Starbird.
Send condolences
to the family care of
Tim Starbird, Hall &
Rambo,
P O Box 1029, San Jose CA
95108
Submit
your own memories of BabeTom
McEnery writes . . . In the history of San Jose, among the
well-known and distinguished men, the Halls and Rambos and fine mayors like
George Starbird, there were some very remarkable women, often not behind
them, but in front of them - one of these was Carolyn Hall Starbird, and our
City and valley is so much richer that she passed this way, enriching all of
us. As a writer, her monograph on "Dad" Hall is a reading pleasure and a
strong link to our past. She had quite life and leaves a lasting legacy.
Bruce McClelland writes . . . she was simply a
"Grand Lady."
Valerie Lewis
writes . . . Carolyn was a major influence
in my life. She bolstered me up and sent me out into the world with
confidence I may have lacked without her influence.The last
time I talked to her was when she called me from Los Altos (following my
visit with her) when she had seen an article about me in the newspaper. She
was like a proud mom...the way I'll remember her.
Richard Lyons
writes . . . Your mother was almost the last surviving
member of the wonderful group of friends who met in Stanford in the 30’s. As
part of the small quota of young women admitted to Stanford in that period,
she must have had particularly close relationships with the girl friends she
made, including my mother (Jane Desenberg).
I was so interested to read about your parents in New York.
I had to think about it, but I can imagine them in that bohemian writer’s
life in New York in the 30’s.
I remember visiting your parents and walking around the
house looking at paintings with your mother. She was a wonderful host. I
always felt welcomed and completely relaxed visiting your parents.
After my father died, I
 discovered
a diary that my mother kept when she went to Europe with her family in 1931
after her first year at Stanford. I have attached two pages that contain
mentions of your mother. I think the pages are legible enough for you to
read if you make them larger on the monitor. They show the connection
between the two friends. My mother was in Paris when she made the reference
to shopping. I also found a Brentano’s gift card in the diary, saying, with
your mother’s dry humor:
"Merry Christmas! I wish I had a million dollars instead of
the mere price of this book. Love, Babe."
Jill Chambers Dalton writes: Your Mom
was really my "second Mom" . . . She was so patient, and welcomed me with
open arms when ever I was romping around your house on Emory and then on
Hedding. I was so mad at my Mom when I found out that you (Susan) were on
the way, that I called my Mom, who was at a cocktail party, and cried that I
wanted a baby too...So, when you arrived, there I was, sleeping in the same
room with you, and the cat, Moo Moo, and waiting for you to wake up so I
could feed you . . .I guess I must have been 10 . . . I visited your Mom
often when she was in Los Altos, always stopping in un-announced and
watching the smile on her face when she saw me . . . She was a dear friend
to my Mom, and even drove out to Dry Creek on my Mom's 90th birthday... |
