People

: Sterel Thompson

: Sterline Arbeney

: Sterling Byrd Lacy; A state senator who was elected from the Grand Junction area. He fell in with the Ku Klux Klan, and was elected as Lieutenant Governor on the coattails of Klansman Clarence Morely in 1925. When the Klan fell out of favor, it ended Lacey’s career.

: Sterling Price Bittle; He was born in Missouri to James Bittle and Rosa Lee (Beets) Bittle. His father was a farmer. His mother was a homemaker. Because of his mother’s illness, the family moved to Loma, Colorado in 1920, when Price was 17. They farmed north of Loma and then four miles northwest of town. They raised beans, hay, and wheat for five years. Price then became the ranch foreman for doctor Everett Munro in Kannah Creek, a position he held for three years. He also worked on the Mesa County bridge gang, for the Elizondo sheep outfit in Westwater, Utah, and hauled ore out of Moab, Utah. He married Velda Lorraine Kelly in Grand Junction, Colorado on December 25, 1925. They had two children.

: Sterling Price Sloss

: Sterling T. Smith; He was born to Claud DeNel “C.D.” Smith and Gertrude Beatrice (Cartmel) Smith in Grand Junction, Colorado. His father was a pharmacist and owner of the C.D. Smith Drug Company in Grand Junction. Beginning in 1930, Sterling worked at C.D. Smith on Saturdays and on summer vacations. He attended Grand Junction High School, where he was involved with the Orange and Black yearbook, the senior class play, the Dramatic Club, Quill and Scroll, Torch Club, and the National Honor Society. He graduated in 1934, when he was 16 years old. He then received a B.A. from the University of Southern California, where he was the class president of the College of Commerce. He was also in the Skull & Dagger honor society at the college. He married Mildred Edith Tebbetts of Whittier, California on May 19, 1939, when he was 21 years old. They had two children. He served in the US Navy during World War II, from 1942-46. He served in San Pedro, California, Guam and Pearl Harbor. He received an Admiral’s Commendation and retired from the Navy as a lieutenant commander. He worked full-time at C.D. Smith beginning in 1938. By the time of his retirement, he was the executive officer of the company. He served as the director of the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce from 1943-49 and 1959-62. He served on the Boy Scouts Council from 1971-74. He was a St. Mary’s Hospital board member from 1974-1980. He was a member of the First Congregational Church. He was also a member of the El Jebel Shrine (Shriners) and the Scottish Rite Consistory. *Photograph from the 1934 Grand Junction High School yearbook.