Individual Details

Death

Charles O. STERN of Sheridan died Nov. 11, 2003, at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. He was 62.
He was born Oct. 7, 1941, to George and Kathryn (Burns) STERN in Tonasket, Wash. He was raised and educated there, as well as in Walla Walla. He dropped out of school in eighth-grade to work in the woods with his stepfather. He earned a general equivalency diploma and went on to graduate from the International Accountants Society in Chicago and the Pasadena School of Insurance in California.
He married Elizabeth McCURDY on Aug. 5, 1962, in Allegan, Mich. He moved to Sheridan in 1971, and soon after started working for the Yamhill County Clerk’s Office. He was appointed elections director in 1973, and was appointed to county clerk in 1981. He was re-elected county clerk in every election since.
He helped monitor the first! Albanian election after Communism. In 1987 and 1988 he headed the Oregon Association of County Clerks. He had recently been elected to a vice presidency in the National Association of County Recorders, Elections Officials and Clerks, putting him in line to assume the presidency in 2006.
He was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, McMinnville Kiwanis, a board member of Sheridan Fire District and the Association of Oregon Counties and U.S. Postmaster Generals Bulk Mailing Committee.
Survivors include: wife Elizabeth of Sheridan; daughter Becky DOLL of Sheridan; son Ben STERN of Sheridan; stepsister Doris GURR of Redding, Calif.; and two grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by stepbrother Don SHAFFER and sister Leona STERN.
A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. Monday at the McMinnville Community Center with pastor Lynn Bryson officiating.
Memorial contributions may be made to Charles Stern Educational Scholarship Fund in care of Macy and Sons Funeral Directors, 135 N. Evans, McMinnville, OR 97128.