John W. Starnes – Obituary

by Lynn McMillen
0 comment

John W. Starnes passed away Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at the age of 79. He was born in Albertville, the son of Gene and Lucille Starnes, a direct decendent of John Gunter and with Cherokee heritage. He finished high school at Albertville where he was a member of the band, played basketball but his passion was baseball. He would later coach Little League baseball. Because of his height, he was called “Big John”. After high school, he attended Marion Military School and Snead College before finishing in business at the University of Alabama. He was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He finished law school in 1965 and practiced law in Marshall County until his appointment by Governor Wallace as district attorney in 1973 until 1987. He was the youngest elected to serve in the legislature, representing Cullman and Marshall Counties from 1966 to 1970. He was a member of the Marshall County and American Bar Assn and the state and national District Attorneys Assns.
He served as state chairman of the Standard and Goals Committee under the Omnibus Crime Act and Region I (15 counties) chairman of the Alabama Law Enforcement Planning Agency. He served on the State Supervisory Board of the State Executive Committee of ALEPA and on the State Juvenile Advisory Board of ALEPA. He was on a committee to review reported child abuse cases in this county. He has been affiliated with HOPE PLACE, a home for abused spouses and children.
He was instrumental with the Lake Guntersville State Park, Talladega Speedway, Huntsville Space and Rocket Center, Lake Guntersville Boat Races sponsored by the Guntersville Jaycees, “Hustler” breaking world record for jet powered boats on Guntersville Lake and creating Lurleen B. Wallace Drive.
John married Dottie Little (Mosley) in college and had two daughters, Melissa Brazelton-Reeves and Lucy Starnes (deceased). He also has two grandchildren, D.J. Brazelton and Lilli Grace Reeves.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to:
Guntersville First United Methodist Church
539 Gunter Avenue
Guntersville, AL 35976

The John W. Starnes Scholarship Fund
C/O Citizens Bank & Trust
711 Gunter Ave.
Guntersville

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related Posts

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.