He was born Nov. 16, 1938, in Muleshoe, Tex., the son of John Franklin and Kathryn Isabella (McLaughlin) Starkey. He graduated from high school in Clovis, N.M., before becoming a Brown Scholar at the New Mexico School of Mines.

Mr. Starkey earned a master’s of science in biophysics from Kansas University. He was the assistant vice chancellor at KU before retiring in 1998 for health reasons. He was a member of the First Methodist Church of Clovis, N.M.

Survivors include one brother, John, Texas; and three sisters, Nina Mae Brewer, Robert Lee, Tex., Eula Belle Mullin, Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Kathryn Starkey Williams, Farmington, N.M.

Memorials may be sent to Kansas University Endowment Association, in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.