Harold P. Starr

Obituary for Harold Starr

Harold Page Starr (age 91) died peacefully on August 23, 2023, at Cathedral Village in Philadelphia, thirteen years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The son of Isaac and Edith Page Starr, he grew up in Wyndmoor, PA, and graduated from Episcopal Academy, Yale College and Harvard Law School. Between Yale and Harvard he served in the Navy. In 1960 he married Emily Woodward Churchman. They had five children and lived for fifty years in the house his grandmother built in Wyndmoor, PA. He is survived by his children Elizabeth Starr Masoudnia and her husband, Shahram Masoudnia; Edith Starr and her husband, Mark Feighn; Page Starr and his wife, Helen Starr; and Alice Starr Wagg and her husband, Geoffrey Wagg. He is also survived by his grandchildren: Sholeh Masoudnia, Milan Masoudnia, Coco Starr, Harold Starr, Nicholas Wagg, Emily Wagg and Henry Wagg. Emily, his wife of 62 years, died in 2022, and their son, Isaac, died of natural causes in 2000 at the age of 28. 

After law school, Harold specialized in business law at Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz for twenty years and was a solo practitioner for twenty more years. He acquired an impressive collection of modern art and served on committees at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. An active community member, Harold was chair of the Springfield Township Bicentennial Committee, served on the Chestnut Hill Historical Society, and was President of the Chestnut Hill Community Association. Harold vacationed in Nova Scotia with extended family nearly every summer of his life and oversaw the upkeep of the family property there for twenty-five years. An avid gardener, he filled the house with roses and fed the family with delicious vegetables from his bountiful garden. In the winter he heated the house using wood he enthusiastically chopped himself.

In retirement, Harold and Emily enjoyed traveling to Mali, India, China, and over forty other countries. Inspired by the children they met along the way, they supported international organizations providing food, education, and opportunity to those in need. They were also devoted supporters of many of Philadelphia’s cultural, educational, and service organizations.

The funeral service will be held at St. Paul’s Church, 22 E. Chestnut Hill Avenue, Philadelphia, on September 2 at 2:00 pm, with a reception to follow at the church. The service will also be live-streamed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V43Y2KWxal4).