The Shepherd University sports family is mourning the passing of former basketball coach Robert Starkey who died away Saturday, April 2, at 84 years old.
Starkey was a true Ram, a 1958 graduate of Shepherd lettering in football, swimming, and baseball. He returned to his alma mater 10 years later to start a historic career. From 1968-88 Starkey earned more wins than anyone in Shepherd history, 360, including a 1976-77 season in which the team went 33-3 finishing with more wins than any other division three team in the country and making it to the elite eight.
“His excellence as a coach will long be remembered by those who witnessed the action in Sara Cree Gym and around the region. His legacy is firmly entrenched in Shepherd lore. I will never forget him welcoming me into the Shepherd family and I’m thankful for my opportunity to get to know him, “said athletic Director B.J Pumroy in a interview with www.shepherdrams.com
Coach Starkey was a 1991 inductee of the Shepherd sports Hall of Fame, and in November 2015 the skybox and academic support center in the Butcher Center was named for him
Services will be at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, at the Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, 256 Halltown Road, Harpers Ferry/Charles Town, West Virginia, with Pastor Duane Jensen officiating. Interment will be in Elmwood Cemetery in Shepherdstown.