Lawrence Vincent Starkey Jr.

LAWRENCE VINCENT STARKEY was born on December 12, 1935 in Greenville, SC. He grew up in the nearby college town of Clemson where his father was on the faculty. He attended and graduated from Calhoun-Clemson Elementary and High Schools and entered Clemson College in 1952 at the age of sixteen. He was also a member of the Journalism fraternity Gamma Alpha Mu, Associate Editor of The Tiger, served as President of the Baptist Student Union and the Council of Club Presidents. In his senior year, he was the recipient of the English Honor Key. Upon graduation from Clemson with a BS degree in English, he entered Law School at the University of South Carolina, graduating in 1959. He entered government service as an attorney with the United States Treasury Department in Washington, DC. During his time in undergraduate and law school and while in Washington, he was proud to serve in the Air Force ROTC and later in the 10th Judge Advocate General Unit of the Army Reserve, from which he was detailed to the Naval Justice School in Newport, RI. In 1963, he transferred from his post in Washington to Atlanta with the Estate and Gift Tax Section of the Internal Revenue Service. He later became Chief of that Section and subsequently served in a succession of management positions in the Atlanta office of the IRS. In 1971, he was one of eighteen Federal managers selected for the Mid-Career Executive Development Program at Syracuse University and, in 1972, received a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse. Starkey left government service in 1974 to enter the practice of law as an attorney specializing in trust and estate law. In 1975, he helped form the firm of Starkey, Benham and Mills and subsequently became associated with other Atlanta law firms. Ever devoted to his alma mater, Lawrence began his involvement with Clemson. He became President of the Atlanta Clemson Club, served on Clemson’s Alumni National Council and later National President of the Clemson Alumni Association. He served on the Clemson Foundation and was named to the Board of Directors of the IPTAY Scholarship Fund, serving as its President for two terms. He remained a member of the IPTAY Board of Directors for over 40 years and until his death. In 1981, he was awarded Clemson University’s Distinguished Service Award. He served on the School of Liberal Arts Advisory Board. Over the past 60 years, Lawrence enjoyed many crisp fall afternoons watching his beloved Clemson Tigers play football in Clemson Memorial Stadium. He could be found wherever Clemson played, whether on opposing campuses, bowl games, or the two games played in Tokyo, Japan. Lawrence Starkey was an active member in his profession and his community. He was a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Lawyer’s Club of Atlanta and the Atlanta Estate Planning Council. He served on the Boards of the High Museum of Art, Horizon Theatre and the Atlantic Coast Conference Club of Atlanta. He also served as President of Peachtree Arts, a component of the High Museum. Later in life, he became interested in writing and, in 2009, won the Georgia Bar Journal’s Annual Fiction Writing Contest. His winning short story, “Death Tax Holiday,” was published in June 2009. In 2008, after a courtship of many years and much to the delight of all who knew them, Lawrence and Nancy Matthews were married in a surprise ceremony on the Clemson campus in the presence of 70 shocked but delighted friends and family members. He is survived by his wife, Nancy Matthews Starkey; sister-in-law, Mary Miller Starkey; niece, Alice Starkey Jenkins, and her husband, Joel Jenkins; great nephews, Ian Jenkins and Steffen Jenkins; special cousins Catherine Masterson, Scott Masterson, and Elizabeth Masterson; and numerous other cousins for whom he had great affection. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Lawrence V. Starkey Scholarship – Clemson Foundation at 200 Avenue of Champions, Clemson, SC 29634 or Clemson Athletic Alumni Association, 155 Old Greenville Hwy, Unit 105, Clemson, SC 29631. The family will receive friends on Saturday, December 12, 2015 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in The Williams Center at Peachtree Presbyterian Church. A memorial service will follow at 2:00 p.m. in The Kellett Chapel at Peachtree Presbyterian Church. A reception will follow the service in The Williams Center.