Starr Funeral Home

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. In 1946, a man named W. O.

Stringer, County Judge and owner of Stringer Funeral Home over in Jasper, decided one funeral home wasn't quite enough. He opened a second facility in Hemphill, on the corner of Worth Street and FM 2971, also known as Beckcom Road. And to run the place, he hired a Tennessee man named John Byron Starr, Sr.

Now John had a story worth tracin' before he ever set foot in Hemphill. His parents, Hillard A. and Sarah E. Starr, had lived in several states, Georgia and Tennessee among them, and by the time the 1880 U.S. census came around, they were showing up in Navarro County, Texas.

John himself grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, drifted toward Texas in time, and by 1930 he was living in Houston. By 1940, he'd made his way to Kerrville. Then came the war, and John served in the merchant marines during World War II.

In the early 1940s, he married Margaret Virginia, known by her maiden name Prather and her previous married name Lisle, in Beaumont. She had two sons from before. Together, John and Margaret added a son and a daughter, and just like that, the family was growin'.

So John took the job in Hemphill and got to work. Then came 1949, and here's where the story takes a turn. W.

O. Stringer decided to close the Hemphill location. Now some men would've packed their things and moved on.

John Byron Starr, Sr. was not that kind of man. He decided to purchase the business himself and keep it in operation. He got some financial help from his brother Lewis E.

Starr, all the way from Chattanooga. He kept those doors open. And Margaret, not one to sit idle, started a flower shop in a side room of the funeral home, running it as a separate business entirely.

Then 1958 rolls around, and things get bigger. The funeral home moved to a new facility at 510 Starr Street, and the marker is clear on this point: it was the first facility in east Texas specifically designed for that purpose. The flower shop moved that same year, 1958, to a new facility at 201 Starr Street.

And here's a thing worth pausin' on. That flower shop is still in operation today, in the second generation of the Starr family. The funeral home itself has reached its third generation, and it remains the only such business in Hemphill, servin' a widespread area of east Texas and Louisiana.

A County Judge opened a door in 1946, a Tennessee man walked through it, bought it when it nearly closed, and generations later the Starr name is still on the building. That's how you put down roots.

What the marker says

In 1946, W. O. Stringer, County Judge and owner of Stringer Funeral Home in Jasper, opened a second facility in Hemphill, on the corner of worth street and FM 2971 (Beckcom Road). Stringer hired Tennessee native John Byron Starr, Sr. (1909-1978) to operate the business. John's parents, Hillard A. and Sarah E. Starr, lived in several states, including Georgia and Tennessee, and appeared in the 1880 U.S. census in Navarro County, Texas. John, Sr. Grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and later moved to Texas. He was living in Houston in 1930 and Kerrville in 1940 and served in the merchant marines during World War II. In the early 1940s, John married Margaret Virginia (Prather) Lisle in Beaumont. She had been married previously and had two sons. The Starrs had a son and a daughter together to add to their growing family. In 1949, W. O. Stringer chose to close the Hemphill location of his funeral home business. John Byron Starr, Sr. decided to purchase the business and keep it in operation. He received financial assistance from his brother Lewis E. Starr from Chattanooga. In a side room in the funeral home, Margaret started a flower shop, operating as a separate business. The funeral home moved in 1958 to a new facility, the first in east Texas specifically designed for that purpose, at 510 Starr Street. The flower shop also moved in 1958, to a new facility at 201 Starr Street and is still in operation today, in the second generation of the Starr family. The Starr Funeral Home is in its third generation and is the only such business in Hemphill, providing a vital community service over a widespread area of east Texas and Louisiana.