West Chester University - Serpentine Yearbook (West Chester, PA)

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Pages CLASS NINETEEN SEVENTEEN V SNAPSHOTS OF PROF. STARKEY

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THE SERPENTINE Page? FOSTER H. STARKEY. A.B.. A.M.

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THE SERPENTINE Page 9 3aBtn iJf. tarkrij, A.iE.. A.l. OUGHLV S[)cakiiii;, iihl ' iiiiglu divide all iK-nplL- into three classes: first there is that class of individuals who, liighly endowed with nat- ural ahility and under very fortunate circumstances, seize every op- portunitv, thus l)econiing conspicuous as leaders in pusliing forward the frontier of knowledge antl human progress; secondly, one finds that class of people who become notorious because of their inability to conform to the general ideas of behavior and who thus retard tlie onward march of civilization: finally, there exists that great mass of God ' s common people who, through success and failure, silently yet surely work out those great plans for which men and women were and arc created. To this class of people, who by honest endeavor, persistent industry and sympathetic patience make this world a holier, happier place to live in, belongs the subject of this sketch. Foster Henry Starkey, the son of Henry M. and Emeline Hammond Starkey, was born near Mansfield, Tioga county. Pa., May 6, 1862. He came of that sturdy New England stock which has enriched life wherever it has gone, his father having migrated from New Hampshire to the rugged hills of Northern Pennsylvania, there to fell the forests and to earn a livelihood by agriculture. Amid such surroundings — an cnvironmenj; that instilled a love for the true, the beautiful, the sincere — our professor rambled during his boyhood days, and it was there on the farm he learned those lessons of thoroughness and application wdiich have told in his later life, both as a student and as a teacher. He secured his elementary education in a country school, and at the age of sixtcer. entered Mansfield State Normal School where, after three years of hard, faithful work (for lie practically earned his way through school) he gradu- ated in 1881, valedictorian of his class. After graduation, he taught for several years in Tioga county, the last two being spent in his home town, Mansfield, as Principal of the town schools. While here he finished his preparation for college, and having secured as a result of his excellent work at the Normal School a scholarship at Bucknell University, he entered that institution in the fall of 1887. Although he was especially brilliant ni his favorite subject, Latin, his work in Mathematics was such that he was called our mathematic shark. lie tells interesting stories of how the students visited his rooms to get help in Calculus and College Algebra. He was active in the V. M. C. A. work; in literary circles, being one of the editors of the school paper, and in social affairs, being a member of the national fraternitv Phi Gamma Delta. . s a member of this organization, he helped pre- pare the National Record of the chapters in the various colleges. In the spring of 1891 he was graduated from the University and was given the degree of A.B., with mention of honors in Mathematics and in Latin. Three years later his Alma Mater honored him with the degree of A.M. Again his unusual ability won him a scholarship, this time to Harvard; consequently the year 1891-92 was spent