Emory at Valdosta
Robert J. “Bob” Starling, a son of Henry Laverne Starling and Allie Purvis, attended the Emory College campus in Valdosta in 1948. His father was the school lunchroom supervisor at Ray City, and his grandfather, Juniper Griffis Starling, was a pioneer settler of Coffee County, GA.
Bob Starling grew up in his father’s household on Park Street in Ray City, and attended the Ray City School along with his brothers and sisters. The Starling kids were all involved in the Glee Club. In 1939, Bob and his sister, Wylda Starling, played in the school’s Symphonet Band, along with Lamar Hardy, Fain Guthrie, Ferrell Herring, Barbara Swindle, Annie Martha Grisset, Lois Burkhalter, Kenneth Cameron, Billy Creech, Casswell Yawn, and Sadie Griner. His older siblings, Hubert C Starling and Juanelle Starling sang with the school chorus.
Robert J. Starling, 1948, Emory Junior College, Valdosta, GA
Emory Junior College, 1940s, Valdosta, GA
Bob Starling went on to become Dr. Robert J. Starling. He married a nurse, Frances Carolyn Singletary, and practiced medicine in Donalsonville, GA. He eventually purchased the hospital in Donalsonville and he and Frances operated it for many years.
A writer on the Donalsonville Forum: Remember the Good Ole Days, posted in 2011:
Dr Earle Moseley built the facility and it was known as Moseley Clinic and Hospital until his death in 1963. After that time, Dr Bob Starling purchased the hospital and it was renamed “Seminole Memorial Hospital”. Dr Jake Holley came that same year and joined him. Later he was joined by Dr Lewis Chisholm for a while, then later Dr Charlie O Walker.
Another writer in 2008 recalled the doctor’s bedside manner:
“Doctor Starling was such a kind and gentle man. I was never afraid of going to him as a child. I wish he was still around for my own children. I cut my hand when I was a senior in High School, and he was on call in the emergency room that day at lunch. I had never been to him; we always went to old man Dr.B….But Dr. Starling took me in, and soothed me quickly. He had 6 stitches in my hand before I could squeeze out another tear for my mom !! I remember Fran and Scott Starling, Linda and Robert too.They always had the best Halloween decorations!”
Related Links:
- Glee Club Gave 1939 Christmas Cantata
- Ray’s Mill Residents See Strobel Airship
- Ray City School Gets Lunch Room, 1941
- Ray City Prosperity Proclaimed Amid 1929 Stock Market Crash
- William J. Lamb ~ Confederate Veteran
- Dr. H.W. Clements and the Doctor’s Roadster
- Ray City Seniors ~ 1939
- Anna Martha Grissett at Georgia State Womans College
- Obituary of Frances Carolyn Singletary Starling
- Max Maurice Johnson
Ray City History Blog 