Marilyn Canon Starr

Marilyn Canon Starr, born July 5, 1940, in Tunica, MS went home to be with the Lord on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025, at the Senatobia Healthcare and Rehab Center. Marilyn, affectionately known as Lynn to her family and friends and Mamaw to her grandchildren, was the daughter of Robert Henry Canon and Mary Evelyn Poore Canon of Tunica. Her mother passed away when Lynn was a child, and her dad traveled for a living, so Lynn was raised by Elchue and Eva Tucker Denton of Tunica. In 1962 she married F. Raynor Starr of Sledge, MS. While Raynor farmed the family land in Sledge, MS, Lynn was busy taking care of the household, raising the children, and running her hardware store, Starr Hardware in Sledge.  She taught math in Clarksdale and later was the bookkeeper for F.O. James Gas in Sledge and Como until she retired in her late 70’s. She was a member of Sledge Methodist Church and the Sardis Methodist Church after moving to Sardis in 2013. Lynn was the sweetest and most resilient person one could know.  She loved her family, friends, and whistling.  Lynn attended school in Tunica and graduated from Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus, MS.

She was proceeded in death by her parents, a brother, Jimmy Canon of Tunica, her husband, two children, James William “Bill” Starr of Senatobia, MS and her daughter, Mary Evelyn Starr of Sledge who both passed away in 2023, her grandson, James Elisha “Eli” Starr of Oxford who left this Earth in March of 2025.

Left to cherish her sweet memory are her daughter, Joanna Starr (Rich) of Flagstaff, AZ, granddaughter, Christian Starr Continenza (Daniel) and great-granddaughters Isabella and Sophie of Chagrin Falls, OH, a grandson, Samuel Tucker Starr of Senatobia, a brother, Robert Canon (Glenda) of Clarksdale, MS, a sister, Myra Canon Hillhouse (Glenn) of Charlestown, MO and two daughters-in-laws, Cayce Wright Starr of Senatobia and Virginia Hawks Starr, of Oxford.

In lieu of flowers the family kindly requests donations to be made to the Mary Evelyn Endowment Scholarship Fund at Northwest Community College in Senatobia (662)562-3200 or at https://www.northwestms.edu/about/foundation.

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