
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 31, 1994                   TAG: 9501030064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

EARL STARKEY, 95, BUSINESSMAN IN BUENA VISTA, DIES

Earl M. Starkey, a Buena Vista businessman who once bought a building while it was on fire, died Thursday at his residence. He was 95.

Starkey, a Salem native and president of Starkey International Ltd., a business consulting firm, bought the Burlington Mills Manufacturing Plant for $10,000 as it burned, and leased the undamaged parts of the complex.

Starkey moved to Buena Vista in 1920 to manage the Blue Ridge Tannery. He served on the city's School Board and City Council, and as commissioner of revenue.

Starkey also was president of the People's Bank in Buena Vista for 16 years, and helped organize Virginia International Co., which shipped crude oil to Indonesia.

by CNB