Last updated on December 15th, 2016 at 02:06 pm
Mr. Fredrick Elwood Starn, 92, former president of Starn’s ShopRite Supermarkets of South Jersey, died Dec. 11.
During the time Mr. Starn served as president, he and his family expanded the business to five supermarkets in the South Jersey area, employing 800. He retired in 1986.
Mr. Starn was born in Northfield, New Jersey, and was raised in Pleasantville. He graduated from Pleasantville High School. After the invasion of Pearl Harbor he joined the war effort and enlisted in the Navy. He was shipped to the New Hebrides in the South Pacific, where he served in the Seabees. Upon return from Word War II , he joined his father’s grocery business and worked as a butcher for 23 years.
Mr. Starn was a longtime member of both Salem United Methodist Church in Pleasantville and Central United Methodist Church in Linwood. He served on the Board of Trustees at the Ocean City Tabernacle and continued his service as a Life Trustee.
According to his obituary, Mr. Starn was a devoted husband and father and always had a joyful and upbeat outlook on life. When not running the family business, he had a passion for boating, sport fishing and golfing. He took up golf at the age of 53 and was a member of the Atlantic City Country Club, Greate Bay Country Club and also the PGA National Golf Club in Florida.
Mr. Starn is survived by is wife of 68 years, Mary Lou; son Craig Starn of Philadelphia; daughter and son-in-law Karen and Robert Guempel of Toms River, New Jersey; grandchildren Greg and Laura Guempel; brothers Robert, Wesley and Stanley; sisters Esther, Lillian, Betty and Peggy; and many other family members and friends.
A public viewing is scheduled at Adams-Perfect Funeral Home, 1650 New Road in Northfield, from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15. The funeral service and burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission.
