Harold E. "Punk" Starcher Jr. died May 6, 2013, at his home in Ripley, W.Va., after a long illness. The son of Margaret M. and Harold E. Starcher, Punk was born August 13, 1928, in Logan, W.Va., the product of the first successful Caesarean section performed at Logan General Hospital. He was the husband of Virginia "Ginny" Rae Jolliffe, who preceded him in death, and the father of two children, Mark L. Starcher (Paige), McLean, Va. and Ann R. Starcher, Charleston, W.Va. He bragged incessantly about his two grandchildren, John E. Starcher, New York, N.Y. and Margaret R. Starcher, Graz, Austria.
Educated in Ripley primary schools, Punk was a graduate of Greenbrier Military School, where he played football. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir and was attached to the 101st Airborne Division in Kunsan, Korea, where he was executive officer and acting company commander.

After the war, Punk graduated with a civil engineering degree from West Virginia University and did postgraduate studies at Purdue University and the University of California, Berkeley. His engineering work with Kaiser Aluminum and General Electric Corporation allowed him and his family to travel the world with assignments in Australia, Brazil, California, England, Jamaica, Maryland and New York.

In the early 70s he returned to Ripley to start a construction company, Chartwell Corporation, and pursue real estate development. He was an active member of the Ripley community, an elder and trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of Ripley and co-founder and first president of the Jackson County Development Authority. He served on the West Virginia Capitol Building Commission and the Jackson County Airport Authority.

A joint memorial service for Punk and Ginny Starcher will be held at 1 p.m. on June 7 at the First Presbyterian Church, 210 Cedar Lakes Drive, Ripley. A reception will follow at Waybright Funeral Home, 511 Church St. S., Ripley. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Jackson County Animal Shelter, 86 County Farm Road, Cottageville, WV 25239.