Lasting Memories

Charles McPherson
1924-Nov. 5, 2006
Sonoma, California

Charles "Stuart" McPherson of Sonoma died at his home Nov. 5 after a battle with cancer. He was 82.

Mr. McPherson was born in San Francisco and attended UC Berkeley. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps, where he became a first lieutenant. He was a navigator of B-24 missions over Europe from his base in Norwich, England. After the war, he graduated from UC Santa Barbara. During his business career, he focused on many phases of real estate on the Midpeninsula, including sales, development, management, finance and investment, say family members.

He lived with his wife, Barbara, and their three children in the newly established town of Woodside, where he was a member of the first planning commission and organized the local Boy Scouts.

In later years, he had a second family of two more children with his wife, Jan, in Saratoga and La Selva Beach. He had a passion for travel and adventure and spent much time in Koloa, Kauai, where he owned a condominium. While there in 1991, he married his longtime friend, Karen. They eventually moved to Sonoma in 2003 to be near family.

Mr. McPherson is survived by his wife, Karen, of Sonoma; daughters Libby Mann of Woodside and Saundra Manilla of San Francisco; sons Stuart of Alamo, Cory of Sonoma, and Steven of Wheaton, Illinois; stepson Brady Berg of San Francisco; twin sister Bonnie Stafford of Woodside; and nine grandchildren.