Donald Stehle died March 15, 2024 at the age of 92. He was born in Philadelphia, PA, on July 3, 1931. He grew up in Crestmont Farms, PA and then moved to Rydal, PA. Don graduated from Germantown Friends School in 1948 at the age of 16 and enrolled at Brown University where he met his future wife Dorothy “Dot” Brandon. He received a bachelor’s degree from Brown in 1952 and enlisted in Officers Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, VA. Don and Dot were married November 1953 and he served overseas during the U.S. occupation of Korea. Don then received an engineering degree from Penn State in 1958 and moved to New Hartford, N.Y. where he worked for General Electric. He continued to work for General Electric as a manager of marketing until his retirement in 1989. Don and Dot moved to Cazenovia in 1981 and lived there until her death in 2010.
In 2012, he married Charleen Herrling Smith. They lived in Fayetteville when they weren’t traveling. Don was active in many different activities including the Otsego Sailing Club where he and Dot taught their family to sail, the Snow Ridge Ski Club where he and Dot taught their family to ski, the House of Good Shepherd, the vestry at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, the Willow Bank Yacht Club and the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation.
Don is survived by his wife, Charleen; children, Katharine (James) of Aurora N.Y., David (Andrea) of Cazenovia, Elizabeth of Syracuse and Donald (Stacey) of Penfield, N.Y. Don left seven grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his brother, Charles of Lower Gwynedd, PA, and his sister, Katharine (Robert) Young of Newport Beach, CA.
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m., Saturday, April 13, 2024 at St Peter’s Episcopal Church in Cazenovia. There will a reception following the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation, CazCares or a charity of your choice. Condolences for the Stehle family may be left at michaelebrownfuneralservices.com.
