Genevieve Cochran Starkey

Genevieve Cochran Starkey passed away on September 25, 2023. She was born in Roanoke, Virginia, November 20, 1929 and spent her childhood between Roanoke and Floyd, Virginia before graduating high school in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. From there, she moved with her family to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she met and married JW Starkey. Together, they had three daughters: Karen, Alyson, and Leslie.

As a Navy family, they traveled across the United States and the globe, living in San Diego, Pensacola, Norfolk, Naples, Italy, and Bogota, Colombia. They returned Stateside to the Tidewater area where Genevieve welcomed her first two favorite grandchildren. JW and Genevieve then decided to start a new venture in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina and they opened their own restaurant, Starkey’s Pizza. The addition of three more favorite grandchildren kept them busy until they decided to retire back to Genevieve’s home, in the Blue Ridge mountains of Floyd and Patrick counties.

Genevieve dove into her true passion of historical and genealogical research, working with the Floyd County Historical Society and compiling the book Cemeteries vol. II. She tracked down hidden graves and overturned more than one family secret in the course of her research.

Genevieve was preceded in death by her husband, JW and her daughter, Leslie Starkey Coty. She moved to Orange, Virginia to be closer to her daughter Alyson, and Karen joined her there for several years. Genevieve was an active member of the Orange Senior Center, being crowned the Senior Queen of Orange for the local Christmas parade.

She is survived by her daughters, Karen Austin (Barry) and Alyson Lawyer (Carson Hartley), and her grandchildren, Sheila Lamb, Matthew Coty, Dustin Lawyer, Tracy Edwards, and Richard Lawyer along with loving great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Visitation at Preddy Funeral Home in Orange, Virginia will take place Thursday, September 28th at 1pm.

A graveside service will be held at Meadows of Dan Baptist Church Saturday, September 30 at 11am.