Dorothy "D.D." Wesley Starr

Dorothy Deane Wesley was born in Anniston, AL on January 12, 1928, to Pauline Corley Wesley and Fred Wesley. Her father called her “DD” from birth, and she remained “DD” for the rest of her life. She grew up in Anniston, graduating from Anniston High School as student body President and Valedictorian in 1946. She was the first person in her family to attend college, earning a bachelor’s degree from Alabama College for Women in 1950. She subsequently earned master’s degrees in Public Welfare Administration from the University of Kentucky in 1959, and Social Work from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

While attending a college summer work-study program she met Robert Starr, of Cambridge, Ohio. After a long-distance courtship and a lot of tennis, they were married in Anniston on November 24, 1951. Early in their marriage they lived in Dayton and Cincinnati, OH, where DD and Bob were very committed to the civil rights movement. DD was one of the original six founders of the Kennedy Heights Community Council in 1963, an “intentionally integrated” neighborhood in Cincinnati, OH, where they very purposefully chose to raise their children. DD fought valiantly as Chair of the housing committee within the Community Council against “block busting” and red-lining, so as to keep the neighborhood integrated in the ’60s. Her efforts were mentioned in many histories of the community and city, including a book about Cincinnati, “Vas you ever in Zinzinnati,” by Dick Perry. The Kennedy Heights Community Council remains a vibrant, thriving, and integrated neighborhood organization today, sixty years after its formation.

In 1969, the family moved to Waverly, Iowa, where DD identified the need for a preschool program and subsequently became a co-founder of the Waverly Child Care and Preschool. The program began with seven students and grew to serve more than four hundred, ranging in age from two weeks to ten years.

DD enjoyed fishing and camping for nearly her entire life and was a very talented tennis player well into her late eighties. The family often said that DD and Bob fell in love on a tennis court, and the two of them spent many years attending tennis matches, both as players and spectators, and taught their children and grandchildren to play. They also greatly enjoyed classical music and opera. In Wisconsin, they regularly held “opera and dessert” events at their home, a tradition which they continued after moving to Walnut Ridge.

For twenty-five years, DD loved practicing social work in Kentucky, Ohio, and Iowa, initially serving in the following capacities: assistant to the commissioner of welfare in Frankfort, KY; assistant director of adult activities at the central YWCA in Cleveland, OH; a child welfare worker in Dayton, OH; and a community-based caseworker in Cincinnati, OH. She spent several years as a hospital social worker in Waverly and then as a school social worker for the Joint County School System of Franklin, Butler, and Bremer counties. In the fall of 1975, DD was hired as an assistant professor of social work at Wartburg, being tenured in 1981 and becoming an associate professor of social work in 1983. Although she was very fond of all her years in social work, there is no doubt that she found her greatest joy during her seventeen years as a social work educator. DD retired as Chair of the Department of Social Work in 1992.

DD was a long-time member of the League of Women Voters, the American Association of University Women, a founding member of the National Association of Social Workers in 1955, a founding member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in DC, an activist for women’s rights and human rights, and a life-long Democrat.

DD was a strong person of faith and a member of several Protestant churches, having been raised and married in a southern Baptist church. She and Bob became Presbyterians in Ohio and then Methodists in Iowa, and finally members of Walnut Hills United Methodist Church, an open and affirming congregation in Urbandale.

DD died peacefully on January 24, 2023, after a long decline due to Alzheimer’s. DD is survived by three children: Bart Starr (Anne), Clive, IA; Lila PM Starr (Tony Montoya), Clive, IA; and Juliana Starr, New Orleans, LA. Grandchildren include: Elisabeth Johnson (Mike), Bellevue, NE; Sam Starr, Omaha, NE; Meredith Starr, Omaha, NE; Antonio Montoya, Minneapolis, MN; and Wesley Montoya, Clive, IA, and two great-grandchildren: Ayden and Louise Johnson.

The family asks that any remembrances be made in the form of donations to any of the following, all of which were important to DD:

Wartburg College, Wavery, IA: https://www.wartburg.edu/give

Southern Poverty Law Center: https://support.splcenter.org/site/Donation

Alzheimer’s Association, Iowa Chapter: https://www.alz.org/iowa?form=alz_donate

Kennedy Heights Community Council, Cincinnati, Ohio: https://www.kennedyheights.org/donate

Waverly Childcare and Preschool, Waverly, IA: https://waverlychildcare.org/donate/

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