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Oren Lee “Scottie” McLean, 77, a resident of the Oregon Veterans’ Home for the past nine years, passed away Jan. 4, 2010, at Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles, Ore. He will be remembered as a devoted father, loving grandfather and a good friend to many.

Funeral services with military honors will be held at noon Saturday, Jan. 9, at the Life in Christ Center Church in The Dalles.

Graveside services will follow at the Lyle-Balch Cemetery in Lyle, Wash.

Oren was born May 21, 1932, in Gunn, Alberta, Canada, to Elmer and Muriel (McKinney) McLean. As an infant he moved to the family homestead in Clearwater, Idaho, where he was raised and educated.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955. Following his discharge from the army, he married Clauda Thomas.

Oren resided in the Lyle area for more than 45 years until he moved into the Oregon Veterans’ Home in 2001. He worked as an equipment operator for BNSF Railroad for 30 years, retiring in 1991.

He was a charter member of the National Rifle Association, and a life member of The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Union. He enjoyed fishing, hunting and spending time with his family.

Oren was preceded in death by his parents, Elmer and Murial McLean; brothers Glen, Bryce, Leslie, Buhl and Ervin; sister Margaret and daughter Theresa Ann.

He is survived by his brother Robert McLean, of Clearwater, Idaho, and sister Ruth Johnson, of Payette, Idaho; sons Michael McLean, of Houston, Texas, Bryan McLean and his wife, Cindy, of The Dalles, Ore., and daughter Loretta Meisner and her husband, David, of Asotin, Wash.; grandchildren Denver (Isaac) Mason, Bryan and Brandon McLean, Emily, Joshua, Benjamin, Daniel, Laura, Caleb, and Luke McLean; and great-grandchildren Miguel McLean and Michael Joseph Mason. Numerous nieces and nephews also survive.

Arrangements are under the direction of Anderson’s Tribute Center (Funerals, Receptions, Cremations), 1401 Belmont Ave., Hood River, OR 97031; 541-386-1000. Please visit www.andersonstributecenter.com to leave a condolence note for the family.

Jerry Sterling

Jerry Sterling passed away in the comfort of his home on Jan. 6, 2010. He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Cleo; his son Marc Sterling and daughter-in-law Brooke, of Denver, Colo.; sister Jane Canter, of Sarasota, Fla.; his grandchildren Madelene, Sarah, Alex and Chris; and great-grandsons Ethan and Makoa.

Jerry was born in 1932 in Paterson, N.J., and spent his early years on a farm in Pennsylvania. In the Navy for four years during the Korean War, he later attended Antioch College in Ohio and graduated with a split degree in physics/electrical engineering.

His enjoyments were without bounds: ocean sailing, bridge, three-cushion billiards, reading, smoking, drinking, tennis, backpacking, wine-making, pets, and all sorts of carousing were a continuous part of his life!

He worked at Autonetics as a research engineer on pulse-torquing of gyros for our early space efforts. He then worked for Yellow Springs Instrument Company as director of research, responsible for the development of a significant line of ceramic temperature-sensitive resistors (thermistors) that remain in production to this day.

After leaving YSI, he taught electrical engineering at his alma mater, and then moved on to a Dayton firm, Technology Incorporated, developing electronic devices including a digital voltmeter, mass flow meters, oxygen consumption computer and temperature controllers.

He went up through the ranks from senior research engineer to chief engineer to general manager, and ultimately transferred to a Chicago subsidiary as president of Lundell Controls, a manufacturer of power plant electronic monitoring devices, to “turn it around.”

Through this period he published several papers relating to thermistors, and was awarded two patents: the first on mass flow meters and the other on a dew point hygrometer.

After leaving Lundell, he moved to California in 1970 and worked briefly for a small oceanographic firm, Martek, but quickly joined InterOcean Systems in San Diego as operations manager of that oceanographic firm while “living aboard” his 41-foot ketch on Harbor Island.

In 1978 he was transferred to a Redmond, Wash., subsidiary as president of Northern Radio, a manufacturer of high-frequency radios utilized for long-range communications by large yachts and the historic Seattle fishing fleet.

In 1981 he left to head a small start-up company, Communications Research Corporation, and retired to Underwood, Wash., in 1986, where he and Cleo have resided ever since.

In 1996 Jerry was instrumental in joining his wife, Cleo, in the creation of PROD (Promoting Responsible Ownership of Dogs Inc.) a nonprofit, all-volunteer local service organization whose main focus has become the spay/neuter of dogs and cats.

In remembrance of Jerry, contributions can be made to Heart of Hospice or PROD through Anderson’s.

Barbara Langer

Barbara Jane Langer, 67, a resident of Hood River for more than 30 years, passed away Sunday, Dec. 27. She was born in Prineville, Ore., on June 29, 1942.

Barbara attended school in Portland, Eugene and Prineville, graduating from Grant High School in 1960. She went to school in her 50s to complete her associate’s degree in general education/social work from Columbia Gorge Community College.

She has been involved in her community for as long as anyone can remember and has tirelessly devoted her time and energy right up to the time of her death to (Hood River) Special Olympics of Oregon as well as many community programs such as Helping Hands, Hood River Memorial Hospital, The ARC, Columbia Gorge Center (Opportunity Connections) and many others.

Barbara is loved by everyone in her community and will be remembered for her strength and devotion to helping those in need. She was a force to reckoned with while standing up for the rights of those who could not do so for themselves, and was admired for her fundraising abilities.

Barbara was an avid gardener and enjoyed hiking and reading.

Her parents were Elmer Carlo Murrell and Evelyn Jayne Nicholas. Her maternal grandparents were Jessie Maude Gage and Oscar (Mack) C. Nicholas.

She leaves behind two brothers, Richard Murrell and Fred Murrell; five children: Robert, Lori, Chris, Mariah and Leithan; nine grandchildren: Stephanie, Shawna, Matthew, Morgan, Jessica and Jackson; as well as grandchildren-in-law Chris, Jordan and Jasmine; two great-grandchildren, Angelina and Giulio; and three nephews and nieces: Jodie, Mack and Alex.

If you would like to make a donation to a charity close to Barbara’s heart, please consider Special Olympics of Oregon for Hood River County: contact Dan DeLeon at 503-248-0600; or Project Helping Hands Against Violence: send donations to P.O. Box 441, Hood River, OR 97031, or The Arc of Mid Columbia: contact Joe Carroll at 541-980-5584.

Join us for a Life Celebration party on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 2 p.m. at the Hood River Valley Adult Center, 2010 Sterling Place.