Mary Joan Starbuck was an ophthalmic surgeon at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. She was born on 16 April 1928 in Lewisham, London, the daughter of John William Sandford Starbuck, a rope and twine merchant, and Elsie Starbuck née Williams. She was educated at Bromley High School and Bromley County Grammar School, and studied medicine at King’s College, London, qualifying with the MB BS and the conjoint examination in 1952. She was a house ophthalmic surgeon and then a senior ophthalmic registrar at King’s College Hospital and also a clinical assistant at Moorfields Eye Hospital. She gained her diploma in ophthalmology in 1955 and her FRCS in 1959. She was appointed to her consultant post in Canterbury in 1961 at the age of just 33. Here she built up the ophthalmology department and also took on responsibility for ophthalmic departments in other local hospitals. She had a particular expertise in treating squints. She ran a private practice and also took unpaid leave to work with Sight by Wings, the first charity to bring up-to-date ophthalmic surgery to parts of rural Africa. She was president of the Southern Ophthalmologists and an examiner for the diploma of ophthalmology of the Royal College of Surgeons from 1981 until her retirement in 1987. She was president of the Canterbury Soroptimists from 1984 to 1985 and was twice lady captain of Canterbury Golf Club. She was a member of St Mary Bredin Church congregation in Canterbury. She also enjoyed gardening. In retirement, she took an art history degree, travelled widely, bought a flat in southern Spain and became a member of the Garden History Society. She was also a guide at Canterbury Cathedral. Mary Starbuck died on 15 January 2016 at the age of 87. She was unmarried.