Gilbert F. Staender February 25, 1930 -August 27, 2016

Gil Staender, longtime resident of Camp Sherman and the Sisters area, passed away at Hospice House on August 27.

Gil was born February 25, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois. He was a first-generation American. His parents emigrated from Germany and became U.S. citizens. When his parents divorced, he returned to Germany with his mother. She died when he was 6, and he spent several years in an orphanage. While in the orphanage, he was issued a set of silverware, which the children used at each meal. He carried that set of silverware his whole life.

In 1940, during World War II, Gil's uncle put him on a ship from Germany to the U.S., to be reunited with his father. Gil turned 10 while on the ship. When he reached the U.S., he couldn't find his passport, and they wouldn't let him off the ship without it. He recalled leaning over the railing to speak to his father, waiting for him on the dock. His father told him to look in his lederhosen, and there, he found his passport in his pocket.

Gil remained fluent in German and English.

Gil's father remarried, and the family moved to the Portland area, where Gil grew up. He became a guide on Mt. Hood, and summited more than 50 times. He was active in the Mazamas, the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, Greenpeace, Utah Wilderness Coalition, and other Conservation Societies.

He was a photographer, and conservationist. He and his wife, Vivian Staender, spent a year in the Arctic, in the wilds of the Brooks Range of Alaska in 1965. They authored several books about the experience. They sold their house in Lake Oswego and moved to Sisters in the 1960s, where they purchased a section of land North of town. They built a stone house "off the grid," before being off the grid was popular, and named the place "Wildhaven," which has been donated to the Nature Conservancy. Gil taught school in Sisters, and the couple helped legislate for the very first bottle bill in the U.S., passed in 1971. He donated several pieces of art to the Sisters Library.

Gil moved back to the Portland area and worked for REI. He loved art, music and the outdoors, and to travel. When he retired, he traveled in his motorhome with his beloved dogs. He purchased a home in Camp Sherman, where he spent his summers. He was a fabulous cook, his specialty was homemade carrot cake. He loved to tell stories, go dancing, walk his dog, spend time with friends, and travel.

He will be greatly missed.