April 11, 1933 -- June 29, 2011

Samuel "Jerry" Starr of Amherst, a retired teacher credited as the  originator of musical theater at Kenmore West High School, died  Wednesday in ElderWood Health Care at Wedgewood. He was 78.  Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Starr moved to the Buffalo area after  serving with the Air Force in Japan during the Korean War. He  earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University  of Buffalo.
Known as "S.J.," Mr. Starr was a high school teacher in the  Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District for 34 years. He taught  English, drama and public speaking at Kenmore West.  He began directing the high school's annual musicals in 1963 and  also directed plays. Among them was a production of "The Diary of  Anne Frank" that featured CNN political anchor Wolf Blitzer, a  Kenmore West alumni, in a supporting role.
In 1966, he and his wife, Elaine, founded the Ken-Ton Summer  Musical Theater Workshop -- which has become the longest-running  youth theater company in Erie County. For years, the entire Starr  family was involved in the program.  All told, Mr. Starr directed more than 100 plays and musicals.
While at Kenmore West, he and Stephen Ash, a fellow teacher,  founded Educators Totally Committed, an organization that raises  money for the poor and homeless through activities such as an  outdoor sleep-out during the winter.  "I was watching a TV special on the homeless four years ago. I'd  been complaining about it being cold out, and I felt guilty," Mr.  Starr said in a 1991 interview with The Buffalo News. "I spoke to  some people the next day. We started Educators Totally Committed  and the sleep-out."
In 1993, Mr. Starr was honored in Washington, D.C., by then-first  lady Barbara Bush as one of 50 winners in the national "Search for  Real Heroes," which was sponsored by a coffee company. He had been  nominated by one of his daughters.
Mr. Starr retired from Kenmore West in 1994 and is among the  inductees in the school's Corridor of Honor. He later was part of  the adjunct faculty of Buffalo State College, supervising student  teachers.  He had taught more than 30 years at the religious school of Temple  Beth Zion, where he also served as principal for several years. In  1996, he received Temple Beth Zion's Maurice S. Tabor Man of the  Year Award.
His wife, Elaine Miller Starr, died in 2003.  Survivors include a son, Kevin, and three daughters, Syndi  Buscaglia, Jodi Cook and Robyn.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday in Temple Beth Zion, 805 Delaware  Ave.