Mr. William (Bill) Byron Starling, age 89 a resident of Co. Rd. 434 in Abbeville, died Sunday August 9, 2015 at the SAMC after a brief illness.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday August 12, 2015 at the Ft. Gaines Baptist Church with Rev. John Riley, Rev. Jeff Hines and Dr. William Starling officiating. Burial will follow in the Ft. Gaines City Cemetery with Glover Funeral Home directing.

The family will be receiving friends from 10 a.m. (EDT) until 10:45 (EDT) Wednesday prior to services. In lieu of flowers the family requests contributions to the John Riley Ministries, Abbeville, AL. or to the Ft. Gaines Baptist Church, P.O. Box 248, Ft. Gaines, Ga. 39851.

Mr. Starling was born on July 2, 1926 in Henry County the son of William Blackshear Starling and Mary Lou Jackson Starling. He owned Bill Starling, Inc. in Cuthbert, Ga. for 50 years before retiring in 2006. Mr. Starling moved from Cuthbert, Ga. to Henry County in 1992. He was a 1943 graduate of Newville High School; Auburn University with a B.S. degree in Forest Management and was a member of the Ft. Gaines Baptist Church.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Stanley B. Starling and a brother, James Gwynn Starling.

Survivors include: wife, Virginia Masters Starling, Abbeville; daughter, Virginia (Ginger) Starling, Abbeville; son, Dr. William Masters Starling (Carolyn), Cuthbert, GA; daughter-in-law, Brenda Starling, Wilmington, N.C.; 5 grandchildren, Alex Starling (Kim), Blairsville, GA; Edward Starling (Cynthia), McIntyre, Ga.; Summer Starling, Berkeley, Ca.; Hunter Starling, Naperville, IL; Grayson Starling, Asheville, N.C.; 4 great-grandchildren, Alyssa Barlow, Makenna Starling, Alexis Starling, and Matt Starling; 3 step-grandchildren, Nicole Underwood, Crystal and Brittany Fennell.
Active pallbearers will be Alex Starling, Edward Starling, Hunter Starling, Grayson Starling, Summer Starling and Ginger Starling.
Honorary pallbearers will be the members of the Ft. Gaines Baptist Men’s Sunday School Class, Stan Starling and Billy Starling.

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