Dean Anthony Sterling

Dean Anthony Sterling passed away peacefully with family by his side at a memory care residence in Granite Bay, CA, on April 10, 2023, from complications of Alzheimer's disease. Dean was born on March 5, 1941, in Long Beach, CA, to Mary Laura Esposito and Frank James Sterling. After his parents divorced in 1945, Dean and his big sister, Beverly, moved with their mom to Sacramento where she had been born and raised. Both of Dean's parents remarried wonderful people who became loving stepparents, actively helping to raise him and his sister. In April of 1949, Dean was baptized at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, and attended Catholic schools all the way through 8th grade. He started high school at Christian Brothers High School, transferring to Sacramento High School the following year, after telling his mom he wanted to attend a school with girls! Dean was a starter on the championship Sac High basketball team that competed in the Tournament of Champions at Berkeley in the spring of 1959. After graduating in June 1959, he began college at Sacramento City College in the fall of 1959, transferring to the University of California Berkeley in the fall of 1961. While at Berkeley, he became a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity where he formed many friendships. In 1964, having not yet graduated, he received his draft notice, and chose to enlist in the United States Army. During his time in the Army, he received training at various Army installations around the United States. He loved being in the Army, and soon became an accomplished Army pilot, flying various fixed-wing aircraft, including the 0-1 Bird Dog and the U21 twin-engine turbine reconnaissance plane. His career was in military intelligence with two one-year tours in Vietnam, 1968 and 1971, time at the National Security Agency in Washington, and various posts around the United States. Before his second tour in Vietnam, he married his first wife, Judy, in Washington, D.C. in September 1970. After returning from his second tour in Vietnam, they welcomed two beautiful daughters, Tricia in 1972 and Whitney in 1976. In June of 1974, he completed his college studies, graduating from the University of Baltimore with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business. In 1977, his last duty assignment took him to Sierra Vista, Arizona, a small, quiet town where his daughters were raised. During his time in the Army, Dean was a highly regarded officer, and received many honors, including the Bronze Star. In 1984, after 20 years in the United States Army, he retired with the rank of Lt. Colonel. That same year, Dean started civilian work on Fort Huachuca, in Sierra Vista, as the Project Director managing contracts commissioned by the government with companies such as Comarco and JITC. In 1989, Dean rediscovered his first love, Anne, at their Sacramento High School 30th reunion, a love that had began when they steadily dated from 1958 to 1960. Dean and Anne married in Sierra Vista November 16, 1991, and built the custom home of their dreams there in 1993. After Dean's retirement in 2003, he and Anne moved back to their roots in Northern California, settling in Lincoln Hills, CA, in 2004. They had a blessed life together in Arizona and California , including time traveling to far off locations in Tahiti, Mexico, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, Spain and France. Dean most loved being at home with family, or out with close friends from high school and those he met more recently. An avid golfer and billiards player all of his adult life, he could also fix or build most anything and could even sew on buttons and iron his own clothes, which he always did once he retired. Dean was a kind, thoughtful, intelligent, funny, talented, easy-going man who was loved and respected by all who knew him.

Dean is predeceased by his parents Mary and Frank, his stepparents, George C. Schaedler (Mary) and Marjorie Sterling (Frank), sister Beverly Sterling Crews (Mel), half-brother George C. Schaedler Jr., and cousin Joe Florance (Sylvia). He is survived by the love of his life of 36 years, Anne Boyd Sterling, daughters Tricia Sterling Liebig (Chad), and Whitney Sterling Stockstad (Blake), grandchildren Mya, Drake, Beckett, and Laila, half-sisters, Tina Sterling and Susan Sterling Schneider (Marv), half-brothers Jim Sterling (Nancy), and Dave Sterling (Jolene), step-cousin Bill Schaedler (Elaine), as well as nieces and nephews. His ashes will be placed at Mount Vernon Memorial Park in Fair Oaks, CA. Donations may be made in Dean's honor to the Lincoln Hills Foundation and to Del Oro Caregivers Resource Center.