FAYETTEVILLE — Joe Fred Starr, whose Northwest Arkansas business career spanned sales, construction, poultry and automobiles, died Wednesday.
“I knew him 64 years, since we were both in high school, and he was a unique character the whole time,” Jim Blair said. “I knew that long before we ever worked together at Tyson.”
Starr, 79, moved to Fayetteville as a child and graduated from the University of Arkansas. It was in college Starr first met Don Tyson as members of Sigma Nu fraternity, said Blair, a grade school friend who would later serve as general counsel for 25 years at Tyson Foods with both Tyson and Starr.
“Joe Fred did a lot of things throughout his life, but he never worked in sociology. He just got that degree because it required the least amount of work,” Blair said.
Starr started his business career with Sperry & Hutchinson Company, selling bonus stamps to grocers and other retailers, which used as a customer incentive. Many of those stamps were never redeemed, leaving top salesmen such Starr with access to cash reserves, some of which he used to finance construction of chicken houses with his college friend Tyson. He later joined the company, retiring as vice president.
“Joe Fred Starr was a very close friend of my dad’s, and an integral part of the Tyson Foods’ leadership team during the 1960s through the 1980s,” said John Tyson, Don’s son and chairman of the company. “These were the big growth years for our poultry business, and Joe Fred’s advice and counsel as both a team member and a member of our board of directors was critically important to the company’s development. He will be sorely missed and I send my condolences and best wishes to his entire family.”
Starr also started dabbling in real estate development in the 1960s, beginning with Skull Creek Apartments.
“He was still active in real estate right up to the end,” said Daryl Hickman, a longtime business partner.
Starr helped Hickman buy a Chevrolet dealership in Siloam Springs, remaining a partner in that venture for more than three decades.
“I had a little used car dealership in Fayetteville, and Joe Fred would come in just to make small talk,” Hickman said. “When the Chevrolet franchise came available, I wasn’t in a position financially to do it myself, so Joe Fred partnered up with me. It was a great partnership.”
Starr also bought and sold vintage cars as a hobby, despite the fact that he was never a great driver, several friends said.
“He was a sucker for Studebakers, no matter what year or what model,” said Robert Parker, owner of Parker Motors. “You didn’t want to ride with him, though. I think there was one Studebaker I restored, sold to him, and had to restore again just a couple months later, even though he only drove it a few times.”
Blair remembers Starr driving down Dickson Street one day when he saw someone he wanted to talk to.
“He stopped, jumped out and started talking,” Blair said. “That car just rolled off until it hit something.”
Starr maintained a sense of humor about life, whether it involved business transactions or jabs at his driving.
“He always had a humorous way of getting his point across, and that made his points stick with a lot of people,” Hickman said.
Starr will be remembered for a variety of reasons, Blair said.
“It’s nearly impossible to encompass all the various facets that were Joe Fred Starr,” he said.