Kathleen Stark passed away on Friday, April 14, 2023. Kathleen Stark was born December 17, 1946, in New Jersey, daughter of Shirley Birkhead-Pierce and Charles Clancy.
Kathleen, known to friends and family as “Kathy,” married Frank Pearce Stark, known as Pearce, in 1975, and the two were together for 45 years, until Pearce passed away in May of 2020.
Kathy attended Hopewell Valley Central High School, where she first met Pearce,
but following graduation she was chosen to join TWA Airlines as a flight attendant, traveling the country and eventually much of the world from 1966-1976 in an exciting career that she loved and that brought her many wonderful experiences and memories that she enjoyed sharing.
Kathy and Pearce reconnected 10 years after high school and married in Hopewell, New Jersey, in 1975. Following her career with TWA, Kathy worked with her husband at the popular Charley’s Brother restaurant in Hopewell while raising their daughter, Amy, and eventually went on to work for Princeton University for 20 years as the Sports Camp Administrator and later within the University’s Housing department. Kathy loved animals, dogs especially, and raised several beloved furry family members over the course of her life.
Kathy enjoyed skiing with her husband and daughter early on and then took up golf, which she grew to love and through which she created many meaningful friendships in New Jersey, and later in Southport, North Carolina, where the Starks retired to live in 2010. Kathy was known by her many friends and family for her kindness and charm in making people feel comfortable and appreciated, whether she’d known them for years or minutes. Kathy is survived by her daughter, Amy Elizabeth Stark, resident of Jackson, Wyoming. Amy says that her mother had the most beautiful blue eyes you could ever see, the cutest laugh and, though she was always very petite in stature, her courage and her heart were enormous. She was very loved and will be missed dearly.
In lieu of flowers Amy asks for contributions to be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or to Wounded Warrior Project.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.peacocknewnamwhite.com for the Stark family.
Peacock – Newnam & White Funeral and Cremation Service, Southport, North Carolina.