Huge Marriages Search Engine!
Longtime TUSD educator Starr, 77, dies
Services will be held tomorrow for M. Lee Starr, a Tucson Unified School District educator for 31 years who died here yesterday after a long illness.
He was 77.
TUSD named its teen-age parents’ center, 102 N. Plummer Ave., after Mr. Starr in 1987.
He was an assistant and associate superintendent in TUSD from 1974 to 1982, when he retired.
The psychologist opened his own business after leaving TUSD, serving as president and chief executive officer of Psychological Engineering for Business and Industry.
Mr. Starr, a former Chicago teacher, began his career with TUSD in 1951 as a teacher at Doolen Junior High.
He later served as assistant principal at Vail Junior High and Catalina High before becoming principal at Rincon High in 1968.
Mr. Starr transferred to Tucson High in 1971, remaining there until 1974.
He sought TUSD’s superintendent job in 1977, before the hiring of Wilbur H. Lewis. He turned down superintendent jobs in other districts and decided to remain with TUSD.
Besides belonging to the Mayor’s Commission on Human Relations, he also served with the state Anti-Defamation League, the Pima County Health Board and the Beacon Foundation.
Mr. Starr received a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Miami in 1947 and a master’s of education from the University of Arizona in 1950.
He also did post-graduate work at the University of Denver, Chicago’s Teacher’s College, Columbia University and UA.
Mr. Starr’s wife of 51 years, Eileen, also taught at TUSD.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters, Marianne Starr and Lisa Starr Burns, both of Tucson.
Services will be held tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. at Evergreen Mortuary, 3015 N. Oracle Road.
Contributions can be made to the Starr-Kagan Scholarship Fund, 75 N. Park Ave., Box 40400, Tucson, Ariz. 85717, or to a favorite charity.
(Dated Jul 03, 1999)
=======
Olympic torchbearer Dr. Kerr dies at 65
There were many accomplishments that lighted the life of Dr. Charles Kerr, one of which he shared with the world.
Dr. Kerr, a former University of Arizona faculty member and avid marathon runner, died Saturday at age 65.
He was well-known throughout the psychiatric community but gained the most notice for being one of 52 runners selected to carry the torch from Virginia to Lake Placid, N.Y., for the 1980 Winter Olympics. The other 51 runners voted to have Dr. Kerr light the torch Feb. 13, 1980, on national television.
”I think he about passed out,” said one of his sons, Charles Kerr. The experience ”was important to him for a lot of reasons.”
Dr. Kerr said at the time, ”When I ran into the (Olympic) stadium, I was floating.”
His running career began at Odessa High School in Texas, where he was a member of the track team and graduated salutatorian in 1953. He graduated from Yale, where he was a member of the swimming team in 1957, then moved on to Baylor Medical School in 1963.
Kerr came to Tucson in 1970, joining the UA Psychiatry Department and remaining on staff until his death from drowning, likely caused by a seizure.
He became an avid runner in 1976, prompted by middle-age weight gain. He started running in marathons and answered a newspaper ad for Olympic torchbearers. Out of 6,000 applicants, Dr. Kerr was chosen to represent the state of Arizona based on his ”poise and style” while carrying the torch around a track during auditions.
Following the opening ceremonies, Dr. Kerr went on to run competitively in marathons throughout North America, including the Boston and New York marathons.
Charles Kerr said his father’s philosophy of running was, ”Look, bud, take one telephone pole at a time and you’ll do all right.”
”I think that’s how he lived his life,” Charles Kerr added.
Dr. Kerr is survived by his former wife, Esther Kerr ; his companion, Sue Lamarine; four sons, Charles, Erik and Tim of Tucson and Scott of Phoenix; his brother, David; his sister, Jonny Lou Jones; two nephews; three nieces; and six grand-nieces and nephews. His first granddaughter was to arrive today.
A memorial service was held for Dr. Kerr earlier this week.
(Dated Jul 09, 1999)
=======
Ex-state AG dies at 90
Robert Morrison, a former top prosecutor for Pima County and a state attorney general who tried to rid Tucson of gambling and prostitution in the 1950s, has died.
Morrison, 90, died Thursday of an undisclosed cause in his Tucson home.
Born in Parlier, Calif., he moved in 1936 to Tucson, where he dug post holes for a telephone company.
After being elected Pima County attorney in 1950, he demanded a gambling cleanup of the city and banned lotteries and slot machines.
Morrison, a Democrat who served two years, also led a raid on a house of prostitution in 1951.
In 1952, he lost a bid for attorney general. The Democratic primary winner, Ross Wilson, sued Morrison for alleged libelous campaign statements after losing the general election. The suit was later dismissed.
Morrison was elected state attorney general in 1954. He served two terms before running unsuccessfully for governor in 1958.
While attorney general, he helped spearhead the Central Arizona Project, which channeled water from the Colorado River to central Arizona.
He practiced law in Phoenix and Sierra Vista before retiring in Tucson in 1994.
Survivors include companion Neva Jeanette Furman; sons Robert of Tucson, John and Michael of Phoenix; daughters Arpy of Green Valley and Carol of Washington state; brother Bart Mosekian of Clovis, Calif; 14 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Services were scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Evergreen Cemetery, 3015 N. Oracle Road. Remembrances can be made to any charity.
(Dated Jul 12, 1999)
=======
Tasker renowned as 1 of top prep basketball coaches ever
HOBBS, N.M. – Ralph Tasker, one of the winningest and most revered coaches in high school basketball history, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 80.
Tasker, who had his final birthday just four days before his deathat home yesterday, was fighting pneumonia, said longtime friend and assistant Don Abbott of Farmington, who drove to Tasker’s home Sunday to be with the coach.
When he retired in 1998, Tasker, who was featured in a January 1997 story in the Tucson Citizen, had the third-best high school coaching record in history.
By the time he retired, he had 1,122 wins, 291 losses and 11 state championships.
”He basically changed the way the game of basketball was played,” said Abbott, who played for Tasker at Hobbs High School in the mid-1950s.
”He made better coaches out of all his opponents because of his ability to get the best out of them as well as out of his own teams. He is well-respected all over – not only among high school coaches, but college coaches have used some of his innovations,” Abbott said.
And Tasker had a personal touch that fostered devotion from his players. Ross Black was a junior in 1949 when Tasker coached Lovington to a state championship.
”He was the ultimate in commitment and dedication, not only to the game, but in particular to the players,” Black said from his Lovington home.
Tasker’s teams were best known for their defense, especially the full-court press, which forced countless turnovers and fueled the famous Hobbs fast break.
He also produced many collegiate stars, some of whom went on to play professional basketball. Among them: former Kansas star and NBA player Bill Bridges; current Arizona State University coach Rob Evans and Evans’ assistant, Tony Benford; Larry Robinson, who played collegiate ball at Texas and was Southwest Conference player of the year; Kansas State star Larry Williams; and Texas Tech stars Jeff Taylor, Vince Taylor and Kent Williams.
The West Virginia native accepted a coaching position in Lovington after leaving military service in 1946. Three years later, he won his first state championship. Tasker moved to Hobbs in 1950.
The winningest prep coach is Morgan Wootten at DeMatha High School in Washington, D.C., with a record of 1,185-178.
(Dated Jul 20, 1999)
=======
Auto dealer Biddulph dies at 87
PHOENIX – Herbert Kemp Biddulph, an auto dealer and former Kingman mayor, has died.
The Scottsdale man, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, died Friday. He was 87.
He owned and operated a number of auto dealerships in Arizona, southern California and Las Vegas but got his start in the Phoenix area in the 1930s.
”He was pumping gas and sweeping floors at his uncle’s shop, Walter Butler Motors, in Buckeye. But he went on to become general manager and junior partner with Uncle Butler,” said Kemp Biddulph, Biddulph’s son and owner of Biddulphland in Glendale.
In the years after World War II, Biddulph was a partner in an auto dealership in Kingman, spending 14 years there and becoming the town’s first mayor.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret, three sons and a daughter.
(Dated Jul 21, 1999)
=======
Castro was force here in Democratic politics
Rafael Rudy Castro, a longtime South Tucson furniture salesman who was a behind-the-scenes force in local Democratic politics, died last week after a prolonged illness. He was 83.
Mr. Castro, who made two ill-fated bids for public office in 1958, helped launch the political careers of U.S. Rep.Ed Pastor and Pima County Supervisor Dan Eckstrom.
”I will never forget what he did for me, as well as for many other local, state and federal governmental officials,” Eckstrom said in letter to Mr. Castro’s family. ”He was on a first-name basis with so many of our community leaders, and he used his friendship as a way of making positive things happen in our community.”
Eckstrom described Mr. Castro as ”a loving and proud family man” and ”a loyal and patriotic citizen.”
Pastor, in a letter to the Castro family, said he felt privileged to have had Mr. Castro’s friendship and support.
”His generous and friendly smile made him a trusted friend to many in the Tucson community. He honored me by including me in his circle of friends,” Pastor wrote.
Mr. Castro was born in Tucson on March 1, 1916, and his formal education went no further than the eighth grade at Roskruge Junior High School, said his son, Richard Castro.
”But he did have an active mind. He learned very well,” he said.
Mr. Castro worked at his father’s trucking business before joining the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression, when he helped construct the road through Gates Pass west of Tucson and Hoover Dam in northern Arizona.
He joined the Navy in 1943, serving in the Pacific Theater and taking up boxing, which earned him the nickname ”Killer Castro,” his son said.
Following his military career, Mr. Castro and his wife, Virginia, raised a family of nine children. He first worked as a parachute rigger in Marana, then as a salesman for Sav-On Furniture on South Sixth Avenue.
Mr. Castro lost a bid for the Tucson City Council Ward 5 seat in 1958, coming in second in the Democratic primary election. Later that same year, he came up short in a run for constable in District 2, once again losing in the primary.
But his community activism helped him become a well-respected fixture in Tucson, Richard Castro said.
”He helped found the Tucson Boys Club back when it was on Main Street, and he’d go out and raise money and buy them tennis shoes and sporting supplies and even help them pay for school,” he said.
Mr. Castro served as bailiff for Justice of the Peace Norman Green and through his connections in the legal and business communities helped garner support for political candidates, son Arturo Castro said.
”My dad knew practically everybody on the South Side of town,” he said. ”Young politicians at the time would depend on my dad to express his support for them.”
After becoming sales manager and ultimately a part owner in Sav-On Furniture, Mr. Castro retired in 1989 after 37 years with the company.
He began developing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in 1995 and was confined to his home for the last two years of his life.
Mr. Castro, who was buried today at Holy Hope Cemetery, is survived by his wife, Virginia Castro of Tucson; sons Richard and Arturo of California and Rafael, Norman and James of Tucson; daughters Patricia and Gracie of California and Lillian of Tucson. He also is survived by 27 grandchildren.
(Dated Jul 30, 1999)
=======
