Helane M. Folske-Starlin, 66, of Conception Junction, Missouri, and formerly of Richmond, Michigan, passed away Friday, February 20, 2026.
Helane was born on November 20, 1959, in Mount Clemens, Michigan, to Helen (Spranger) Kaczperski and the late Joseph Owen Folske. While her early years began in the Folske family, the defining foundation of her life was the home created by her mother, Helen, and her "Dad," the late Robert Kaczperski. Robert provided the love and stability that shaped Helane into the remarkable woman and scholar she became.
After a long career of caregiving for marginalized and special needs clients in group homes and then teaching middle school math and science in the Port Huron, Michigan school system, Helane earned her PhD and transitioned into higher education. She relocated to the region to join the faculty at Peru State College, where she served as a tenured Associate Professor, dedicated to guiding the future special education teachers who would become her legacy.
Throughout her career, Helane was a fierce and tireless advocate for those the system often overlooked, ensuring every student and family felt seen, heard, and supported. For nearly a decade, she shared a life of deep companionship and quiet peace in the Northwest Missouri countryside with her partner and best friend, Bob Starlin. Bob remained her biggest fan and supporter, celebrating her professional triumphs and sharing in the simple joys of their daily life.
Helane’s compassion was not constrained to people; she was an avid and devoted animal advocate. Her home was a sanctuary for her "four-legged bandits"—chocolate labs Remington and her "most special and spoiled princess" Sienna—and Lou, her salmon-crested Moluccan cockatoo, whom she always joked would outlive them all. In her "haven of peace," her garden, she cultivated beauty to share with friends and neighbors. An avid reader and cook, she expressed her love by bringing people together and traveling through the pages of countless stories.
Helane is survived by her mother, Helen Kaczperski; her sister, Marilyn Gill; her brothers, Joseph and Peter; and her partner, Bob Starlin. She also leaves behind countless cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews—too numerous to list, but rest assured, she loved you all dearly and passionately, even when you were driving her crazy.
Beyond her family, she leaves behind a community of respected colleagues and beloved students at Port Huron Middle School and Peru State College. Helane was a woman of conviction who valued a spirited debate, yet she held a profound respect for her peers and would have defended their voices as fiercely as her own.
In her final days, her heart remained with her students. She wanted them to know how deeply proud she already was of the advocates and teachers they are becoming. Her final wish for them was simple: do not fear mistakes—embrace them, own them, and eventually, laugh about them. She urges them never to sit back and wait for others to decide their path, but to have the courage to act. When you see someone in need—not just a friend, but a stranger in the store with a confused look or a person on the street who seems lost—she would tell you: don't just reach for your phone to record it; reach out a hand. Step in, step up, and offer to listen. Sometimes you won’t have the answer, but the simple act of offering to help can be the difference between someone feeling invisible or feeling seen. You can never truly know how far a few minutes of your time can go in changing a life.
Dr. Starlin's legacy will live on in every classroom where her students choose to stand up, speak out, and lead with the same fierce advocacy she practiced every day.
She was preceded in death by her "Dad," Robert Kaczperski; her brothers, Edward Folske and Robert Kaczperski Jr.; and her sister-in-law, Kris Folske.
Cremation under the direction of Simplify Cremations & Funerals.
