SANGERVILLE – Dr. Dolores F. Starbird, 70, died unexpectedly, Jan. 26, 2005, as the result of a snowmobiling accident, while vacationing in Canada. She was born July 24, 1934, in Waterville the daughter of Frederick F. and Dorothy (Davis) Finley. Dolly graduated from Monson Academy, valedictorian in 1951. She moved to Massachusetts to further her education and returned to Maine to pursue a career in education in the late sixties and early seventies, while taking classes at U.M.O. She held a number of positions in education from teaching to superintendent, in Maine and New Hampshire. She received her doctorate of education degree from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee in 1985. She retired in the mid-nineties from assistant superintendent of schools in Augusta, only to come out of retirement to be interim superintendent of schools in Dexter for a year and a half. Dolly had many hobbies, including gardening, quilting, and snow-mobiling. She was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sangerville. She contributed to the Wayside Theater in Dexter and was involved with the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter. She was a devoted mother, grandmother and a true friend to all that knew her. Dolly was predeceased by her beloved husband, John Sulden Starbird in 2002. She is survived by a brother, Richard W. Finley and his wife, Nancy, of Vassalboro; a son, the Rev. Dr. Richard Hughes of North Reading, Mass.; a daughter, Sandra St. Louis and her husband, Maurice, of Abbot; a son, Daniel Hughes and his wife, Jackie, of Norton, Mass.; three stepsons, John Starbird Jr. and his wife, Jayne, of Arrowsic, Jeffrey Starbird and his wife, Sheila, of Dexter, and Jere Starbird and his wife, Kathy, of Sangerville; a brother-in-law, Willard Starbird and his wife, Dolores, of Sangerville; sisters-in-law, Gladys and Gardis Starbird of Dover-Foxcroft and Dora Starbird of Florida; 11 grandchildren and a great-grandson; one aunt, Betty (Davis) Story of Whitefield; nieces, nephews, cousins and many special friends. Graveside services will be held in the spring at the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Dexter. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dolores F. Starbird Scholarship Fund, care of Sandra St. Louis, P.O. Box 32, Abbot, ME 04406. Arrangements by Crosby & Neal Funeral Home in Guilford.
DR. DOLORES F. STARBIRD
