Rosemary Louise Kavadias (nee Starck), 87, beloved mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt died on June 9, 2026 in Chapel Hill, NC after a brief illness. She is survived by her children, Siobhan O’Connor, John O’Connor, III (Dawn), Brennan O’Connor (Denyse), Christian O’Connor (Meredith), Sabrina Kavadias (Robert Sears), Pam Kavadias, and Steve Kavadias. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Chandler O’Connor (Kimi), Chelsea O’Connor, Ethan O’Connor, Benjamin O’Connor, Ann Marie Diemer, Matthew Young, and Rennie Meola (Jon) and her sisters, Barbara Starck and Julianne Cronin, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Rosemary was preceded in death by her parents, Lovie Irene Starck (nee Crabtree) and Louis Charles Starck, her husbands, John O’Connor, Jr. and Gabriel Kavadias, and siblings Shirley Goldberg, Robin (Bob) Starck, and Edward (Ed) Starck.

Rosemary was born on October 23, 1938, in San Pedro, CA, to Lovie and Louis Starck. The Starcks were a Navy family, and Rosemary enjoyed living in several states within the US and in Germany before settling in the Tidewater area of Virginia. After earning Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Old Dominion University, Rosemary worked as an audiologist and speech pathologist with the Norfolk Public Schools until her retirement in the late 1980s.

Rosemary loved her children deeply and was devoted to her extended family. She was an avid boater and found joy in animals, adopting many dogs and cats over her lifetime. She was a lifelong activist for peace and justice, beginning with her participation in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom led by Martin Luther King Jr. Her peripatetic childhood sparked a lifelong passion for travel and an enduring interest in different cultures. During retirement, Rosemary and Gabe divided their time between Portsmouth, Virginia and Jupiter, Florida, while traveling extensively throughout the world. She continued pursuing that passion until just weeks before her death.

A celebration of Rosemary’s life will be planned for later this summer.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Rosemary’s honor to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) (https://action.aclu.org/give/now), the ASPCA (https://www.aspca.org), or Lee’s Friends (https://leesfriends.org).