Terry Ernest Caster died on April 20, 2023 at his home in Silverton, Oregon after a lengthy illness. He was 78 years old.
He was born in Portland, Oregon on April 7, 1945 to Pauline Jellison Caster and Eldred E. Caster. He joined sister Joyce (born in 1943), and was followed by two brothers, Craig in 1946, and Grant in 1953. His family moved from Tigard, Oregon to a timber farm in the hills above Scotts Mills, Oregon in 1948.
He attended grade school in Scotts Mills and graduated from Silverton Union High School in 1964. He played football and wrestled in high school. He was Student Body President and Boy of the Year as a senior and voted Most Likely to Succeed. He joined the National Guard while in high school and went to basic training at Fort Ord in California.
He graduated from the University of Oregon in 1968 with a BS in Economics. He married Patricia Brittan, his high school sweetheart, and they lived in Eugene after college for two years while he sold real estate for Rams Realty. By 1970 they had two daughters, Amy and Carrie. He worked selling newspaper features for McNaught syndicate and the Statesman Journal, leaving those jobs after a couple of years to pursue real estate sales and acquisitions full time. The family moved to a rural property on Butte Creek in Scotts Mills in 1970.
Terry sold real estate in and around Silverton and operated Caster Company Real Estate Services for many years, retiring his license in 2008, but remaining engaged in real estate activities until his last day. He was past President of the Silverton Rotary Club, past President of Silverton Chamber of Commerce, past President of the Willamette Multiple Listing Service, and a past member of the Silverton Hospital Foundation board and Maplewood Cemetery Board.
Terry truly loved people, cherishing friends both old and new, and he never met a stranger. He was a creative thinker and an idea person who marched to his own drummer, but whose gentle nature and kind heart spoke volumes. He was tall, dark, and incredibly handsome, beautiful inside as well as outside. Nature was his sacred place and sanctuary, and he loved the PNW rainforest, enjoying all the seasons by identifying and gathering camas seeds, wild mushrooms, elderberries, and other native plants in the forests where he grew up and lived most of his life. He loved all animals and had a special ability to get wild deer, raccoons, and birds to trust him and to even eat out of his hands.
He was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife, Patty, and daughters, Amy Caster-Winegeart (Jessie) of Scotts Mills and Carrie Alexandria Caster (Raul) of Silverton; grandchildren, Samuel Caster-Winegeart of Scotts Mills, Riley Caster-Winegeart (Sabrina) of Silverton, Grace Caster-Winegeart of Scotts Mills, and Indra Caster of Portland; sister, Joyce Fox (Jim) of La Jolla, California; brother, Craig Caster (Melissa) of Salinas, California; brother, Grant Caster (Robin) of Yuma, Arizona; brother-in-law, John Brittan (Nancy) of Escondido, California; nieces, Shelley, Shana, Lauren, Lily, Rebecca, and Jessica, and nephews Todd, Tony, Chad, Matt, Nate, Tim, and Bill; and his many beloved cousins, a few in Oregon and many in Sweden (especially Jan Hallberg of Göteborg).
A celebration of his life will be held in the Orchid Room at the Oregon Garden Resort in Silverton on Thursday evening, June 1 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. Stories and remembrances will be shared and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Oregon Wildlife Foundation, take a friend out for coffee, or buy a bag of unsalted peanuts to feed to your local crows.
