I was born Valerie
Jean Miller, all of my childhood years were spent growing up in the State of Ohio, the majority of those years were in Lisbon.
While I acknowledge my
biological father being the late Merland Martin Miller, I have always and will always claim the late Robert W. Starkey
as my Father.
He and my Mother, Carol Ann (Hostetter) Miller/Starkey were married on July 8, 1967 which is about six weeks before
my nineth birthday. They remained married until my Father passed away January 4, 1990, my Mother never remarried and
later joined him on January 7, 2002, both of them are buried in East Carmel Cemetery in Rogers, Ohio.
I have three sisters,
Jackie (Miller) Wellman, Marjorie (Miller) Bouch and Malinda (Starkey) Hopfenziz and one brother, John Allen Starkey.
I basically grew
up in Lisbon, Ohio where I entered the Third Grade at McKinley Elementary then moving on to Lincoln Junior High and then graduating
from David Anderson High School in May 1977.
I joined the US Army
(Regular Component) in August of 1978 and served primarily throughout Europe in Germany, France and Italy until February
of 1982. When I was unable to obtain the desired transfer to the State of Alaska,
I left the Army upon the completion of my contractual obligation and relocated to the state at my own expense. Once there, I enlisted into the Alaska Army National Guard in December of 1983, where I served on Active
Duty from February 1984 until September of 1987. Then in September of 1987 I chose to return to the 'Lower 48" on an
Interstate Transfer to the Texas Army National Guard, where I served on active duty from December of 1987 until December of
1990 when I was medically discharged.
I married in the Fall
of 1993 and settled in Baytown, Texas and worked at the local Wal-Mart until the Spring of 1999. I made the choice
to return to my home State of Ohio to take care of my Mother. Although she
unfortunately passed away 26 months later, I will always treasure the time spent with her.
I am very happy to have returned to the origins of my family heritage and enjoy spending as much time as
I can with my family and friends.
I
am temporarily living in East Palestine, Ohio. I'm currently involved in a wonderful
relationship and not looking. We both understand each other and for personal reasons
are quite content within our own boundries.
While I am not greatly opposed to making new friends, my social networking consists primarily
for the purpose of reconnecting with those I have lost touch with over the years, both family and friends. As a
genealogist I am always searching out and hoping to connect with family members I haven't met yet.
