Edward Walter Stark passed away Friday, August 9, 2024at the age of ninety. A recent resident of South Hampton Nursing and Rehab Center in Owens Crossroads, Alabama, Ed was born in Alum Bridge, West Virginia on April 10, 1934, the fourth and youngest child of Charles Walter Stark and Emma Frances (Wanstreet) Stark. Ed was preceded in death by his wife Mary Jo and three siblings, Charles A. Stark, George Stark, and Mary Frances Moody, all from Alum Bridge, WV.
Mary Josephine Casey was born in Lewis County, West Virginia on February 5, 1934. Mary Jo, or just “Jo” to family, was the fifth of seven children of James Casey and Katherine (Fleishmann) Casey. Mary Jo and Ed relocated from Atlanta, GA to north Alabama in the fall of 2021. Mary Jo passed peacefully on December 16, 2022, after a brief illness. She was preceded in death by siblings Virginia Chavis (Medford, NJ), Katherine Gissy (Weston, WV), Marguerite Strawser (Marion, OH), Patricia Cobb (Tulsa, OK) and John Casey (Socorro, NM). James Robert Casey (Weston, WV) passed away in 2023.
Ed and Mary Jo are survived by three children: Janet Doyle and husband Gary Doyle of Portsmouth, NH; Beverly Stark-Kublin and husband Ted Kublin of Huntsville, AL; Joseph Stark and wife Sarita of Peachtree Corners, GA. Their grandchildren are Ian Doyle of Londonderry, NH; Jessica Doyle and wife Maggie Markey of Stratham, NH; Ryan Stark of Stonington, CT; and Riley Stark of Huntsville, AL.
Both Ed and Mary Jo were 1952 graduates of St Patrick’s High School in Weston, WV. This is where Ed met his future wife Mary Jo Casey in a class of twelve! He was the basketball letterman; she was the May Queen. He blew up the chemistry lab; she was the class president and spoke “bon francais”. Ed always had an aptitude for electronics and “fixing things”, worked part-time at the local Weston radio station and hoped to become a radio technician. Ed attended community college before leaving to join the Army during the Korean conflict, attending US Army Signal School. Mary Jo worked for C & P Telephone before getting married, connecting callers “old school” long before direct dial.
Ed excelled at the nuances of maintenance and operations of military sensors and communications. Upon discharge from the Army, he married his high school sweetheart in a Catholic service at St. Patrick’s Church in Weston on September 12, 1955. After the birth of their two daughters in Weston, the fledgling family moved to what would become the Florida Space Coast during the early days of the space race to the moon. While Mary Jo kept the little ones out of trouble at home, Ed began his lifelong career in cable TV and communications. Joseph was born while in Florida, rounding out the family of five.
What started as climbing tall towers to install and repair equipment evolved into design, construction and operations of several cable systems across the eastern US. With multiple family relocations rivaling the rate of military families, the Stark’s household included locations in Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, Virginia, Alabama and Georgia.
Ed later established his own company, Stark & Associates, based in Atlanta. His consulting work took him across the US and overseas, including Bonaire, Mexico, Africa and New Zealand. Throughout it all, Mary Jo was reliably there, keeping the household running smoothly, kids in line, homework done and various after school activities moving. While Ed taught the kids the use a hammer and power tools, Mary Jo taught them to sew, cook and organize (the family is still surprised and somewhat skeptical Ed received an “A” in “neatness”, apparently in spite of blowing up the chemistry lab). She was active in the Catholic church, volunteering as a lay minister to the sick, supporting the elderly, and delivering for Meals on Wheels. In later years, having firmly rooted themselves in Atlanta, they enjoyed spending time with their four grandchildren, taking fishing trips and boat rides on Lake Oconee.
A Mass of Christian burial will be offered for both Ed and Mary Jo at 11 am Saturday 21 September at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Weston, WV. Interment to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens of Jane Lew.
Flowers may be sent or in lieu of flowers, a donation to Meals on Wheels in honor of Ed and Mary Jo.
Mary Jo and Ed were beloved parents and grandparents, and we will forever carry their memory in our hearts.
