Waveline Trout Starnes, lately of Frederick, Maryland, loved her family, her faith, her friends, and—in keeping with her lifelong passion for teaching—all children . . . especially those whose gifts and potential were too often obscured or hindered by life's many inequalities. Wave died peacefully on Saturday, October 9, 2021, just four days after her 89th birthday. A grateful four-year survivor of pancreatic cancer, Wave was surrounded in her final days by her loving husband, her three children and each of their spouses, seven grandchildren (and their spouses or significant others), and two great-grandchildren, all of whom will forever cherish their final earthly conversations with this remarkable, generous, and unfailingly kind and loving woman.

Born on October 5, 1932, in Barberton, Ohio, Wave was the first of Floyd and Beulah (Todd) Trout's two children, with brother Duane arriving in 1935. Encouraged by her parents and grandparents, and surrounded by seemingly scores of hardworking Trout and Todd aunts and uncles, Wave was devoted from the outset to family and learning. Valedictorian of her high school's graduating class in 1950, she accepted a scholarship to attend Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) in Quincy, Massachusetts, a 680-mile drive from Wave's tiny hometown of Doylestown, Ohio (pop. 3,077). In short order, Wave Trout met and fell in love with Tom Starnes, who had himself just made a 435-mile trip to ENC from the even smaller Bethel, Delaware (pop. 200).

Dating Tom Starnes hardly consumed all of Wave's time in college. Majoring in English, she was a reporter for the college newspaper and a member of the Speech Club, the Literature Club, and the Future Teachers of America. She was a star debater on ENC's first intercollegiate debate team, a team that competed against and beat teams from nearby Harvard and Tufts University. Ultimately, Wave was one of six seniors in ENC's 1954 graduating class to be recognized in Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Marrying just a week after graduating from college, Wave and Tom wasted no time pursuing their chosen professions and starting a family. Wave became a classroom teacher in Boston, while Tom began graduate studies at ENC on his path to becoming a Nazarene pastor. A year later found the couple in Ohio. Wave again taught school, Tom worked as an associate pastor at Barberton Nazarene Church, and daughter Victoria Jane arrived in October 1956. With Vicky still in diapers, they moved to Kansas City, where Tom studied at Nazarene Theological Seminary, and where, in November 1957 (surprise), son Tommy was born, just 13 months after Vicky. The next stop was Maryland's Eastern Shore, with Tom pastoring a Nazarene congregation relatively near to Bethel, to be near Tom's father who was dying of kidney disease. It was there that Wave and Tom decided to become Methodists. That prompted a move to Washington, DC, with Tom taking a few courses at Wesley Seminary and helping pastor a circuit of churches on Capitol Hill, while Wave focused on caring for toddler Vicky and baby Tommy. The family was completed at Sibley Hospital on October 14, 1960, when son Floyd joined the party.

Wave, Tom, and the "kids" came to know and love a variety of faith communities over the years: an urban "four-point charge" on Capitol Hill, a three-church circuit in rural Harford County (Maryland), and larger congregations in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington, DC. Wave was a vital member at each church, but her primary focus outside the home was on educating children, first as a classroom teacher and ultimately as the Director of the Division of Enriched and Innovative Instruction for the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools, in which she coordinated and designed magnet and gifted and talented programs for all grade levels (k-12), including student selection, program and curriculum development, and teacher training. Wave earned master's and doctorate degrees in Special Education from the University of Maryland, and taught as adjunct faculty at her graduate school alma mater (Maryland), at the University of Virginia, and at Johns Hopkins and George Washington Universities. She authored or co-authored several published articles, and presented several more at symposiums and conference, most of which focused on a field in which she is considered a pioneer: identifying and nurturing potentially gifted children in Black, Hispanic, and other underserved populations.

Along the way, Wave was also immersed in volunteer work, most of which (true to form) was aimed at supporting underprivileged members of her community. From their retirement home in Delaware's Rehoboth Beach, Wave and Tom together taught Reconciling Ministries Bible Study to countless groups, encouraging them to discover what the Bible truly says about welcoming all people to God's kingdom. Wave took a turn running the Cape Henlopen Food Basket, which annually fulfills more than 2,000 requests to provide emergency food to individuals and families in need. She wrote grants to support the West Rehoboth Children & Youth Program, which sponsors after-school enrichment and mentoring programs for disadvantaged children in a poverty-stricken community. And, in the volunteer role in which she was perhaps most invested and emotionally exposed, Wave served as Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in court proceedings in Sussex County, Delaware, and to advocate for a safe, permanent, and nurturing home for each child.

In reading this, many of Wave's beloved grandchildren—and to some extent her own children—will be learning of her accomplishments and service for the first time. If you asked Wave about her work, she'd tell you. But none of that ever detracted from her being fully present for family. Her own kids were expected to study hard, complete their "chores," and above all to be kind and "decent human beings." But they always knew they could count on their mother's unfailing and absolutely unconditional love. And her kids' spouses will say the same: to a person, Vicky's husband John Ewald, Tommy's wife Barbara Davis, and Floyd's husband Carlos Gomez all felt fully accepted and loved by Wave Starnes from the moment they met her.

Wave's love of children reached its apex in the affection and devotion she bestowed on her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. To Vicky's kids—twins Jacob and Hannah—she was "Amaw." To Tommy's—Rachel, Joe, and Danny—she was simply "Ma." To Floyd's—Keott and Dylan—she was "Grandma." But all of them knew—as do a growing list of spouses and significant others that Wave readily welcomed into her open heart (Brittney Thomas, Tom Sorrentino, Jess Flynn, and Max VanMeter)—that their grandmother wanted nothing more than to be with them and would hold each of them in her heart forever. Finally, Wave lived long enough to share that same love with two great-granddaughters: Kendall Liane and Grace Christina. Having those girls join her family, and watching them grow, for however brief a time, brought Wave tremendous joy.

Wave Starnes favored Kahlil Gibran's reflection on children, and she modelled it. She agreed that children "belong not" to us, but "are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself." She accepted that we "may give children our love but not our thoughts." And in every other meaningful way Wave Starnes understood that, most fundamentally, mothers and teachers are "the bows from which . . . children as living arrows are sent forth."

Wave is survived by her loving husband, Thomas Cowan Starnes; by her brother Floyd Duane (Daisy) Trout; by her children Victoria Jane (John Ewald) Starnes, Thomas Eliot (Barbara Davis) Starnes, and Floyd Duncan (Carlos) Gomez-Starnes; by her grandchildren Keott Gomez-Starnes, Rachel Starnes (Thomas) Sorrentino, Jacob (Jess Flynn) Ewald, Hannah (Max) VanMeter, Dylan Gomez-Starnes, Joseph Starnes, and Daniel Starnes; by her great-grandchildren Kendall Liane Gomez-Starnes and Grace Christina Sorrentino; and by numerous loving and well-loved nieces, nephews and cousins in the Todd, Trout and Starnes families.