Memories of Dave Starr

Many people may have not recognized David Starr by his name, but it is likely that everyone in the Platte Valley interacted with him at one time or another.

Dave passed away Dec. 13, 2015. He worked the night shift at Kum & Go in Saratoga. He always greeted every one with a smile.

That was how Dave was, John Zeiger, long-time friend and sometimes co-worker of Dave’s. John and Dave knew each other for close to 50 years.

Dave was a couple of years ahead of John in school, but the friendship began when they both worked for the Saratoga police department in the early 1980s.

“There were eight of us on the (police) force. We had a population of 2,400,” John said.

They worked together until 1984, when John left Saratoga for six years.

Dave also served as an ambulance driver for the past eight years, John said.

When Dave was at the Saratoga Care Center, John visited him. “He was always pretty positive,” John said. “He would still joke when he could.”

Back in the 1980s, it was a totally different mentality of law enforcement, John said. “We were busy ... we were expected to be more community minded.”

It is on that basis that, John believes, Dave set the standard for the rest of his life – being community minded.

As an ambulance driver, Dave was very compassionate, John said. John had worked on ambulances with Dave for one year – John is an EMR (Emergency Medical Responder).

When Dave passed away, people asked John who he was and when he told them he worked at Kum & Go, they commented they didn’t know his name, but knew his smile and his laugh. “They were impressed by the way he treated them,” John said.

“He was obviously the bone of the family. Even through his last days, I think that is what helped them,” John said.

“He loved his community and that was the type of person he was. I think it went back to his law enforcement [days] when it was drilled in, this is the way the community expected to be treated, and I think that just carried on through the rest of his career,” John said.

“He will be missed and he did a lot for the community,” John said.

Dave’s last ride in an ambulance was to his burial site. John, Heidi Sifford and Mike Farver escorted Dave to his final resting place. “It was an honor to be asked,” John said.