Obituary of Milbrey Cate Starnes

Milbrey Cate Starnes left this world on May 15, 2018.  She was born June 4, 1959 in Nashville, TN, but she has been a long-time resident of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and a true Tar Heel.  She graduated with a BS from East Carolina, magna cum laude, attended University of North Carolina School of Medicine for two years then pursuing her studies, she received a doctorate in pharmacology.

Milbrey enjoyed life.  She loved people, Carolina basketball, a good party, puzzles, making cross-stitch ornaments for her many friends each Christmas, working out at the gym and Callie her cat.  She especially loved  the beach.  She loved the Carolina beaches with friends and for twenty-five years she traveled to Texas to spend a week on the beach with her parents and siblings and their families.

Milbrey was known and loved by many.  Even during her fight with cancer, she was thinking of others and what she needed to do to help.  She attracted friends like a magnet with her kindness, generosity and thoughtfulness.  She spent countless hours volunteering at her children’s schools, delivering food for Meals on Wheels, being a part of the fire-safety puppet shows with the Chapel Hill Fire Department and the PORCH project for feeding the hungry.

Milbrey was predeceased by her maternal grandparents, Dr. Frank Harper and Milbrey Young Luton and her paternal grandparents Dr. William Robert and Anna Marie Landress Cate.  She is survived by her parents, Dr. Thomas Randolph and Deborah Luton Cate, her husband of 36 years William Edward Starnes, her twin children Cameron Edward Starnes and Lauren Elizabeth Starnes.  She also is survived by her siblings, Dr. Thomas Randolph Cate, Jr. (Dea Ann), Christopher Harper Cate (Sharon), Amelia Cate Swanson (Brian) and Leslie Cate Flatt (Capt. Damian, U.S. Navy) and nine nephews and nieces.

A service to celebrate Milbrey’s life will be held on Saturday, July 14 at 1:30 PM at Orange United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill with a reception to follow.   In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation in her memory to either Meals on Wheels or PORCH, both located in Chapel Hill or a charity of your choice.

Walker's Funeral Home of Chapel Hill has been entrusted to care for Milbrey's family.