Connie was born on March 10, 1952, in Battle Creek, Michigan, to Kenneth Charles Olsen and Yvonne Irene Olsen. From an early age and throughout her life, Connie was a free spirit who loved adventure, laughter, music, and most of all, the people God placed in her life.
Her faith in Jesus Christ was one of the greatest parts of who Connie was. She was a strong and faithful member of Calvary Assembly of God Church in Poteau, Oklahoma, where she served others and shared her love for Christ. Connie spent many years as a Missionette teacher, pouring her heart into young girls and helping them grow in their faith and relationship with Jesus. She did not simply speak about her faith. She lived it. Connie showed the love of Christ through the way she welcomed people, cared for others, encouraged those around her, and offered a helping hand whenever someone was in need.
Connie was a woman of many talents and had a gift for connecting with people wherever life took her. She worked as a hairdresser at the Clip Joint in Poteau before eventually following her dream of opening her own studio, Reflections. For Connie, doing hair was about much more than a profession. Her salon became a place where she could connect with people, listen to their stories, encourage them, laugh with them, and make them feel beautiful both inside and out.
Later in life, Connie also worked as a Realtor with Century 21 in Poteau. Her warm personality, genuine care for others, and ability to make people feel comfortable made her someone people could trust. Whether she was helping someone find a home, doing someone’s hair, teaching young girls about Jesus, or simply being there for someone who needed her, Connie had a way of making people feel like they mattered.
Music was another great love of Connie’s life. From Journey to classic songs and everything in between, if a good song was playing, Connie was probably singing and dancing her heart out. She had a joy for life that could not easily be contained. Her singing, dancing, laughter, and free-spirited personality created memories that her family and friends will carry with them for years to come.
Family meant everything to Connie. She loved being surrounded by the people she cared about and had a special way of making family gatherings memorable. Connie could easily be the life of the party, but she was also the person who remembered the little things. She was known for sending custom-made birthday cards simply because she wanted to make someone smile. She never needed a special occasion to remind someone that they were loved.
Her definition of family went far beyond blood. Connie had numerous friends whom she loved as though they were family, and many of those friendships became lifelong bonds. She welcomed people into her life with an open heart and made room for others wherever she went.
Connie had a rare ability to love people right where they were. Even if someone was not necessarily her favorite person to be around, they would probably never have known it. Connie would still greet them with a smile, kindness, and genuine care. That was simply who she was. She chose to love people, and she did not keep score.
If someone needed help, Connie was there. She was the kind of person who would give the shirt off her back to someone in need. Whether it was through a kind word, a helping hand, a listening ear, a thoughtful birthday card, or simply being present during a difficult time, Connie gave generously of herself. She touched the lives of so many people, sometimes without ever realizing just how deeply her kindness affected them.
Her legacy can be seen in so many places: in the young women she taught at church, in the people she encouraged through her work as a hairdresser and Realtor, in the family and friends she loved so fiercely, and in every person who was fortunate enough to experience her kindness.
Connie’s life was a beautiful example of how faith can be lived through everyday actions. She showed people that loving Christ also means loving people. She served, encouraged, laughed, sang, danced, gave, and loved deeply.
Though her absence leaves an emptiness that cannot be filled, those who knew Connie can find comfort in knowing that the love she gave will continue through every life she touched. Her memory will live on in the stories told around family tables, the music that makes someone want to dance, the birthday cards that brought smiles, the lessons of faith she taught, and the countless acts of kindness she left behind.
Connie is preceded in death by her beloved husband, Lloyd Lee Starr Jr.; her father, Kenneth Charles Olsen; her mother, Yvonne Irene Olsen; and her sister-in-law, Constance Olsen.
Those left to cherish her memory include her brother, Mark Olsen of Spiro, Oklahoma; her son, Craig Burbank and wife Shannon of Fort Smith, Arkansas; Ron McCloud of Oregon; her daughters, Jennifer Starr of Mississippi and Lisa Cremeans of Poteau, Oklahoma; and her many grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and extended family members who will forever carry her memory in their hearts.
Her grandchildren include Summer and husband Damian Bates, Harley Burbank, Troy Burbank, Jesten French, Kenneth Cremeans, Christopher Cremeans and wife Brandy, Jeremy Cremeans and wife Nisha, Jamie Butters, Thomas “TJ” Roche, Richard Atkinson, and Dacoda McCloud and wife Stephanie McCloud.
Her great grandchildren include Braxton Rowe, Colten Rowe, Rhea Rowe, Lilly Bates, Lukas Butters, Victoria Butters, Remington Butters, Eli French, Gunner French, Nicklauss Roche, Asher Roche, Gwenavere Roche, Lynda Roche, Thomas Cremeans, Rose Cremeans, Novalee Cremeans, Oliver McCloud, Nevaeh McCloud, and Leah McCloud.
Her nieces and nephews include Carmen Minor and husband Bill Overton, Lanessa Altes, Johnny Wemmerus and wife Kristen, and Eddie Wemmerus and wife Sherry.
Her great nieces and nephews include Jazzmynn Petty and husband Jay, Amanda Pollender, Hunter Vinson, Blake LaFevers, and Mykel Overton.
Her great great nieces include Bella Petty and Everleigh Petty.
Connie also leaves behind numerous family, friends, loved ones, and spiritual family members whose lives were forever changed simply because she was a part of them.
There will never be another Connie.
There will never be another person who could sing along to a favorite song, dance without hesitation, make someone laugh, send a card just to brighten someone’s day, teach a young girl about Jesus, welcome a stranger as family, and give so much of herself to others quite the way she did.
Her earthly journey has come to an end, but the love she gave has not.
She is now home with Jesus, the One she loved and served throughout her life.
Until we meet again, Connie, may your family carry your laughter, your friends carry your kindness, the young women you taught carry the faith you helped nurture, and everyone who knew you carry a little piece of your beautiful, free-spirited heart.
The Celebration of Life Services for Constance “Connie” Yvonne Starr are pending at this time.
Online condolences can be made at www.holtfuneralandcremation.com
“Through Love, Serve One Another”
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