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In Loving Memory Of Mrs. Carol Jean Starrett
Obituary Mrs. Carol Jean (Joan) Nichols Starrett, was born on Jan. 18, 1932 to Helen Ball and Ralph Nichols. She was preceded in death by her second husband, Fred Starrett, and her ex-husband, Fred Langley. Also preceding her in death were a sister, Arlene Huffman, and three brothers, Phillip, Ronald and Donald Nichols. Mrs. Starrett died on Feb. 13, 2009 at the Lillian Carter Nursing Center in Plains, Georgia. Mrs. Starrett grew up in Steuben County, Indiana and lived in northeast Indiana until she moved to Americus, Georgia in the early 1980s. She worked at the Strand Theater in Kendallville, Indiana during the 1950s, and was a retail clerk for Kroger's in Fort Wayne in the 1960s. Mrs. Starrett was raised in a strictly non-biased family, and passed her beliefs on to her children. Her grandparents lived in an Underground Railroad house in Orland, Indiana, where escaped slaves fled for protection on their way to freedom in Canada in the 1860s. A hundred years later, in early 1963, Mrs. Starrett became the instrument of integration for Fort Wayne, Indiana, the second-largest city in the state. At that time married to her first husband, Fred Langley, this couple lived with their six children in an exclusive, upper-class, all-white neighborhood. The couple worked with the local NAACP and quietly sold the home to "colored" folks to help with the integration effort. It was the first all-white neighborhood like this in Fort Wayne to be integrated. Upon learning what this family had done -- the project spearheaded by Mrs. Starrett -- the family suffered a torrent of backlash. In the night someone painted "nigger lover" on their house with black paint, threw eggs at the house and car, pulled the mailbox out of the yard, and sent death threats to the family. The brick home had have the wicked words sand-blasted from the outside walls before the new family could move in. Mrs. Starrett's six children faced a backlash, too, with their friends shunning them, name-calling and other atrocities, including having eggs thrown at them as they walked to and from the school bus. But Mrs. Starrett had taught racial tolerance well to her children -- and they not only lived through the ordeal, but grew up to accomplish anti-bias achievements of their own, each in their own way. And, of course, because of her upbringing and the way she taught her children, her grandchildren have been taught to carry on in the same unbiased way. A couple years ago, Mrs. Starrett's eldest child, Cindy, drove by that house from so long ago. The same family still lives there. It is a pretty home, and the family who bought it says they have loved it all their lives Surviving are a sister, Rosemary Shearer of Steuben County, Indiana, and a brother, Paul Nichols of Florida. Also surviving are six children, Cindy Bevington Olmstead of Wauseon, Ohio; Michael Langley of Alpharetta, Georgia; Diana Grimes of California; John Langley of Cumming, Georgia; Ken Langley of Rachel, Nevada; and Steve Langley of Mountainside, Connecticut. Also surviving are 8 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers memorials contributions can be made to Victory Worship Center, 114 Columbia Ave., Americus, GA 31709. Graveside services for Mrs. Starrett will be held in Orland, Indiana at a later date.
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