LOTS MORE CHORUSES TO SINGER'S LIFE.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET Senior columnist

LAKE LOS ANGELES - Connie Johnson Starr wouldn't know what to do with herself if she couldn't sing.

Even callers who get her telephone answering machine are treated to a sample of her singing.

An extra in movies including ``How Stella Got Her Groove Back,'' ``The Rat Race'' with Whoopi Goldberg, and ``Forget Paris'' with Billy Crystal, she also dances and teaches piano and voice.

The mother of three grown children and widowed since 1992, she has a wedding scheduled in June 2004 with fiance Michael Toohey.

``This is the happiest time of my life,'' she said recently. ``I've got a man who's good to me, I'm singing like I want, I'm dancing like I want and I'm teaching. I'm real lucky.''

Her rendition of ``What a Difference a Day Makes'' brings back memories of Dinah Washington. She also does Tina Turner imitations and styles that are strictly her own.

One of her CDs includes favorites like ``Crazy,'' ``I Can't Stop Loving You,'' ``I Fall to Pieces,'' ``Tennessee Waltz,'' ``Honky Tonk Angels'' and ``Don't Tell Me What to Do.''

Another CD demonstrates a Billie Holiday type of jazz. Currently she's working on a gospel album.

At present, she has about 10 vocal and piano students. Most are children, but she has one 80-year-old who is learning to play.

``I love every one of them, and I even rewrite some of the music to customize their lessons so they can learn according to their abilities. This way, they can achieve success even if it's at a different level,'' she said. ``That's what teaching's all about.''

She added: ``A person, young or old, has to be given the opportunity to perform at the peak of his or her own excellence. They all work hard. I want all of them to enjoy music as much as I do.''

A native of Lawton, Okla., Johnson Starr was valedictorian of her high school class in 1954, then moved to Colorado to attend Denver Junior College.

She went on to study nursing at an occupational college, but she became disenchanted. She graduated from the University of Colorado as a paralegal.

In 1992, she came to Palmdale to live and took all of the voice courses offered at Antelope Valley College.

Learning new things is an important factor in her life so she recently began to learn the basics of computers at the Palmdale Senior Center.

Never idle, she belongs to the J&J Social and Travel Club, the NAACP, Lions Club, Antelope Valley Allied Arts Association, Lancaster Women of the Moose and the Twins Church in Lake Los Angeles.

She is the major caregiver for her ailing elderly mother. Her three children are Debra Wilson of Los Angeles; Danita J. Wilson of Duncanville, Texas; and Kevin Wilson of Denver, Colo.

Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster and Palmdale have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk for a suggested donation of $2. Reservations at least a day in advance are now required.

Monday: Macaroni and cheese w/ham, green beans, tossed salad, apple juice, cookies.

Tuesday: Baked fish fillet, baked potato, peas and carrots, creamy coleslaw, citrus cup.

Wednesday: Roast beef, mashed potatoes, winter squash, garden salad, pineapple juice, jello w/fruit.

Thursday: Garlic ginger chicken, wild rice, corn nibblets, marinated beets, juice, apple.

Friday: Swedish meatballs, parsleyed noodles, Normandy vegetables, lettuce/tomato salad, juice, tapioca pudding.

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Connie Johnson Starr is having a great time and has lots to sing about.

Bettie Rencoret/Special to the Daily News