Dorothy E. Starbuck

Convivial, and not averse to party, Dottie Starbuck could often be found cheering up a cocktail bar. In the late 1950s, the 1960s, and the 1970s, it might have been the main bar at an Air Force Officers’ Club. Toward the end of her life it was the Sky Lounge at the Army Residence Community.

From her earliest days, Miss Starbuck combined opposing qualities. She was disciplined, but at the same time a free spirit. In Dewees, Texas, to which her family had moved after leaving her May 15, 1924 birthplace in Three Oaks, she twice ran away from home. As soon as she could, she made her way to San Antonio, to work for the Liberty National Life Insurance Company. There, it was her cheerful independence, as much as her svelte looks, that caught the eye of United States Army Sergeant, Bill Thuney, who took her as his wife.

The Nation was at war. Still, Dottie enjoyed her new life of Army wife while it lasted, but she was no flibbertigibbet. Soon after delivering her first son, Ron Thuney, she was off to La Crosse, Wisconsin where Bill was undergoing cold weather training before his move to England with the 2nd Infantry Division for the D-day invasion. Regretfully, Bill was killed in action in the Ardennes Forest in December of 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge.

Her independence never in doubt, it helped her find a new life as an Air Force wife. Back in San Antonio she met Floyd “Jack” Starbuck who was an Aviation Cadet at the Army Air Corps Training base in Hondo. After a whirlwind courtship Jack and Dottie were married in 1945. Jack and Dottie traveled the globe as an Air Force couple for nearly 40 years. Together they had two children, Sheri and Randy. Once the nest was empty she became a “million dollar” real estate agent for Century 21 . . . and this was back in the 1980s . . . when a million dollars was real money. Jack died in 1991 and Dottie was a widow for several years before meeting widower, Bill Fritz, at the Wonder Lanes bowling alley on Austin Highway. She married Bill in 1998 and they shared a home in the Army Residence Community prior to his death in 2007.

Throughout her life she was active in both her church and her community. As a young wife she volunteered her time at the base Thrift Shop and, later, in Guam, the base gift shop. She served as president of the wives’ club in Türkiye. After settling into the Army Residence Community she was an ARC Angel in the Health Care Facility, pushing wheel chairs and juice carts for the residents.

Whether it was sequins, feathers, her mink cape, or fringe adorning even her everyday outfits, Starbuck turned heads everywhere she went. She loved the glitter and sparkle and would always say, “I’m not going to save this for a special day. Every day is special.”

Her fearlessness seemed to come from a total lack of self-doubt. It was sheer guts, though, that got her over the trials and tribulations of the transient nature of military family life. And back in Spokane in the 1950s it was her character rather than her skills or physical abilities that got her through her total distaste for cold weather and family separation.

The mother of three loved celebrations. Dottie was always full of love, life, and conversation, especially when she was the center of attention. 
 She loved to dance, brag about her children and grandchildren, and discuss current world events. She loved to read. Biographies were her favorite. She had a keen eye for sophisticated style on a limited budget.

Dottie was a social butterfly, and always said the damndest things. Her three children loved her every bit as much as she loved them. And using her example, they treasured her, deeply and thoroughly, even though, quite frankly, she often drove them crazy. Dottie never left the house without a swipe of red lipstick. In fact, if you have stock in Revlon, particularly Love That Red (#725) you might want to sell your stock. She was Revlon’s number one customer. Dottie always had her hair coiffed and sprayed and she dressed in what she called one of her cute little outfits. If Dottie is looking down from above, she is probably starting to make a lot of new friends, all males for sure.

As a mother, Dottie had a single focus. Teach the kids to be independent. According to Dottie, kids have to learn how to make mistakes, they've got to learn how to suffer, be hurt occasionally, and pick themselves up.

Her three husbands, Bill Thuney, Floyd Starbuck and Bill Fritz, precede her in death. Survivors include her children, Ron Thuney, Sheri Starbuck and husband, Carl Hultquist, and Randy Starbuck and wife, Rebecca; granddaughters, Nicole Bell, Misty Meadows, and Libby Slang; seven great grand children and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, many other loving family members and friends.

Monday, December 17, 2018, visitation will begin at 8:00 a.m. followed by a funeral service at 9:00 a.m., Sunset Funeral Home, 1701 Austin Highway, San Antonio. Interment will take place at 11:00 a.m. at the Floresville Cemetery.