Kathryn Cooper Starnes

Kathryn Cooper Starnes, 80, of Morganton, NC died Sunday, November 6, 2016.  She was born on June 15, 1936, in Columbia, SC, was a resident of Charlotte, NC, for 50 years, and lived in Morganton, NC at the time of her death.  She was the daughter of Kathryn Powell Cooper and Green Flavie Cooper, Jr.  Mrs. Starnes graduated from Myers Park High School, was an honor student at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, did post graduate studies at Indiana University School of Music, Florida State University of Music, and Duke University, and was a Fulbright Scholar at University of Vienna, Austria.

Kathryn spent her life as an international musician and was a concert pianist and string player.  She studied piano in New York with renowned, well-known prodigy, Ruth Slenczynska.  She was a member of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Oratorio Orchestra, Opera Carolina Orchestra, and was the accompanist for the Charlotte Choral Society.

Kathryn and her late husband, Charles Starnes, were a musical team and performed countless concerts together.  They received a Rockefeller Grant for music performance at Oberlin Conservatory.  She was very involved in supporting music in Morganton, NC, and was given several grants from Burke Arts Council and was named resident artist in 7 counties.  Kathryn and Charles served as mentors for many talented students and led student tours to Europe.  Charles and Kathryn founded the Burkemont School of the Arts and encouraged hundreds of students with scholarships and professional musical opportunities.

Kathryn was preceded in death by her husband Charles Cole Starnes.

She is survived by brother and sister-in-law, Jerry and Val Cooper, of Raleigh, NC.  She is also survived by her son, Michael Cooper Starnes and his wife, Susan, of Morganton, NC, and their children Flora, Cooper, Addison, Powell, and her son Thomas Clark Starnes and his wife, Rebecca, of Greensboro, NC, and their children Charles “Bo”, Bryce, and Cassie Starnes.

The memorial service will be held at 3 p.m., Sunday, November 13, 2016 at Faith Presbyterian Church, 605 Bost Road, Morganton, NC 28655.  The family will receive friends at the church following the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Children’s Home Society of North Carolina, PO Box 14608, Greensboro, NC, 27415.

Sossoman Funeral Home and Crematory Center in Morganton is assisting the family.