GREEN BAY, Wis. — Cherry Starr, widow of the late Green Bay Packers legend Bart Starr, has died at the age of 89.
The Starr Children’s Fund, an endowment the Starrs created to finance childhood cancer research, shared the message on its website, saying she “passed away peacefully at her Birmingham home with her family and close friends at her side.”
“While we are deeply saddened to lose her, we are filled with ineffable joy regarding what is now taking place,” the organization said in a statement regarding the last message they had written to Cherry Starr saying she would soon be reunited with her husband.
The obituary did not mention a cause of death. Her son, Bart Starr, Jr., told WBAY-TV that she had been battling cancer for years.
Rawhide Youth Services, an organization that helps at-risk youth that the couple worked closely with, also posted a video tribute to Cherry Starr that noted she died on Tuesday.
Cherry Starr was originally from Ohio, but had moved to Montgomery, Ala. It was there that she met her future husband, Bart Starr. After college, the two got married and later moved to Green Bay, where Bart Starr pursued his career in football.
They were married for more than 60 years before Bart died in 2019.
He led the Packers to league championships in 1961, 1962, 1965 and 1966 as well as victories in the first Super Bowl in 1967 and the second Super Bowl in 1968. He was named NFL MVP in 1966 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977. He also served as the Packers’ head coach from 1975 through 1983.
Cherry is survived by Bart Starr, Jr., three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The Starrs’ son Bret died in 1988.
“She was a figurative mother to many more,” the Starr Children’s Fund obituary said.
The Starr Children’s Fund noted on its website that the couple served as honorary chairpersons of the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation’s Golf Classic for 44 years. After Bart’s death, Cherry continued his tradition of writing letters to every starting quarterback in the NFL at the beginning of each season, asking for an autographed helmet to auction off during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month each September.
“Just the sweetest presence ever when she came through our offices,” Andrew Brandt, a former Packers vice president of player personnel, posted Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
She last visited Green Bay in 2022, Bart Starr Jr. told WBAY-TV.
“To her final breath, she would always talk about how she missed getting up there,” he said. “In the obituary I drafted today after she passed away, I noted the favorite trips she would have, it was not going to Alaska, it wasn’t going to Hawaii. It was going to Green Bay.”
The Packers also acknowledged Cherry Starr’s death in a statement on X.
“The Packers Family was deeply saddened today to learn of the passing of Cherry Starr. She will be remembered for her warmth, kindness and great sense of humor,” it read. “Her generosity and support of the community, both here in Wisconsin and in Alabama, is greatly appreciated by so many.”