Linda Kay Sparks Starr was born March 16, 1948 in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Her parents were Jesse L. and Lena Hazel Canada Sparks, who operated a dairy farm between Shawnee and Seminole.

She graduated from Shawnee High School in 1966 and attended Oklahoma State University for a year.

In 1967 she married Gerald Starr. They resided in Tulsa and Washington, DC before returning to Oklahoma. Initially residing in Shawnee, they eventually made their home in Norman.

She received a degree in English from the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

Linda and Gerald had three children, Laura, of Georgetown, Texas; Jeffre, of Orem, Utah; and Bradley who died as a newborn.

Her parents preceded her in death.

She is survived by Laura, Jeffrey and Gerald.

Linda became a nationally-known genealogist. Her website, “Virginia Connections,” is a vast resource of information for those researching family background in the colonial period or later years. She wrote a book on the Civil War experiences of her husband’s great-grandfather. Her data, research findings and opinions are valued by readers across the country for their adherence to sound scholarship principles and reliable documentations.

She died October 23, 2014 in an Oklahoma City hospital of liver disease thought to have been brought on by lupus.

Visitation will be 2:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 26, 2014 at Havenbrook Funeral home, Norman, Oklahoma.

Visitation will continue on Monday from 8:00 a.m.- 8:00 p.m.

Services for Linda are 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at the Havenbrook Funeral Home Chapel.

Interment will follow at 1:30 p.m. at Resthaven Memorial Park Cemetery in Shawnee, Oklahoma.