Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
Abe Starr – February 22, 1952 - February 10, 2021
Abe was born in Toronto, but spent his life in Nova Scotia, most at home on the water, or beside the water, or the twenty-minute drive from the water that Nova Scotia affords those lucky enough to call her home.
Abe was a husband, a dad, and a grandfather, and the sum of those roles was his whole world. He loved his family with everything he had, every day, and those who he leaves behind on the next stage of his journey, his wife of 46 years Shelagh, his daughters Caroline (Matt Reid) and Trisha (Tim Mullen), and his grandchildren, Eva (7), Charlie (6), Gus (2) and Mya (2), will think of his warm embraces and unique sense of humour often and remember him with all the love he had for them (and his many cats).
Abe was a skilled sailor and captain of many vessels over his years, and those who crewed with him know that being with him on the water was a learning experience, and through sharing his boats over the years he introduced many to his great love of the sea, who went on to have adventures of their own on the basin and beyond. His family will remember him at the helm of their adventures on the water with him, between Digby and Hopetown in the Bahamas and everywhere in between.
He inherited his love of the water, and his entrepreneurial spirit from his father, Joseph Starr, a Jewish immigrant from Poland who settled in Ontario as a small child. The concept of home was important to Abe, and he spent his life creating homes for people who were unable to access home ownership. His investment and generosity in this work over many years was never advertised, but well-known and understood by his family and those who knew him best.
We are so grateful to have had Abe with us for the many years we did after he had his first heart attack at age forty, and grateful for the care he received after his second at Digby General Hospital and QE2 in Halifax, twenty-nine years later, even if the result was not the outcome we hoped for. Abe lived a full, abundant life and worked every day to be the best he could be for his wife, children, and grandchildren.
May his memory be a blessing.
If you’d like to make a donation in Abe’s memory, the family suggests The Society for The Friends of Ferals: http://friendsofferals.ca/donate/ or The Heart and Stroke Foundation: https://www.heartandstroke.ca/how-you-can-help/ways-to-give
A celebration of life will follow in July 2021. Details to come.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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