Charles Donald “Don” Stearns

January 9, 1931 – October 27, 2026

Memorial service

Saturday, November 14, 2026, at 10 a.m.

Parkside Village
14501 Crestline Dr.
Aurora, Colorado

Get directions to Parkside Village

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Don Stearns smiling back from the cockpit in his white pilot’s uniform, tinted aviator glasses, and headset, with blue sky behind him.

Photos of Don’s life

  1. Sepia portrait of a smiling young blond boy in a striped shirt and overalls.
    Don as a boy in Cincinnati.
  2. Sepia portrait of a smiling woman holding a baby in a white dress, with a grinning boy in a jacket beside her.
    Don with his mother, Margaret, and his baby sister, Carol.
  3. Sepia portrait of a teenage boy with swept-back hair, wearing a plaid jacket and a dark tie.
    Don’s high school portrait.
  4. Black and white portrait of a young, smiling airman wearing an officer’s cap, a headset, and a fur-collared flight jacket.
    Don in the U.S. Air Force, which he joined in 1951.
  5. A silver U.S. Air Force F-100 jet in a steep, nose-down dive above brown desert mountains.
    Don flying an F-100 in New Mexico during his work as a test pilot.
  6. A smiling pilot in a white uniform shirt, tinted aviator glasses, and a headset, looking back from the cockpit with blue sky behind him.
    In the cockpit, where Don loved to be.
  7. An older man with glasses, a gray jacket, and a paisley tie, laughing at a dinner table with white flowers.
    Don at his mother-in-law’s 90th birthday celebration in 2012.
  8. Don in a gray jacket and paisley tie, dancing and smiling with Eileen, who wears glasses and a brown jacket.
    Don and Eileen dancing at the same 90th birthday celebration.
  9. Four people in orange and navy Denver Broncos gear with team colors painted on their faces, crowded together and smiling for a selfie.
    Cheering on the Denver Broncos with family.
  10. Don in a red vest, seated at a kitchen counter with two smiling younger men and several bottles of whisky.
    Sharing a drink at home.
  11. Don on a black leather couch in a plaid shirt, with a toddler on his lap pointing at him and looking up at his face.
    A serious conversation with a little one.
  12. Don in a tan vest on a black leather couch, smiling beside a woman in glasses and a young blond girl who is holding a phone.
    Together on the couch.
  13. Don sitting on a hospital bed and beaming, holding a swaddled newborn, with a young blond girl standing in front of him.
    Don with his granddaughters.
  14. Don and Woodie sitting close together at a restaurant table with a single red rose. She wears a red dress and he gives a thumbs up.
    Don and Woodie celebrating their engagement.
  15. Don and Woodie holding hands before an officiant in a light blue jacket during an outdoor ceremony among green trees, with two guests beside them.
    Don and Woodie on their wedding day.

Obituary

Charles Donald “Don” Stearns, 95, of Aurora, Colorado, passed away on October 27, 2026. He was born January 9, 1931, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Charles Stearns and Margaret (Maier) Stearns. He was raised there by his mother and stepfather, George Rutherford, along with his sister, Carol.

Growing up in Cincinnati, he developed a love of airplanes and flying. He would go on to enlist in the U.S. Air Force in 1951 and served for nearly 14 years. His final posting was as a test pilot with the Air Force Special Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. He also served in the Air Force Reserve and Colorado Air National Guard.

While in the Air Force, Don attended college, graduating from Oklahoma State University with a master’s degree in electrical engineering. He prided himself on his intellect and briefly joined Mensa to prove that he could.

After leaving active duty in 1964, Don moved to Denver to join United Airlines, where he was a flight instructor and flew the line. His favorite plane to fly was the 737. When he reached the FAA’s mandatory pilot retirement age of 60, he moved to the flight engineer’s seat, flying several more years before retiring.

In 1971, Don married Eileen Breton. Together they would raise two sons, Michael and Steven.

After Eileen’s death from cancer at the age of 70, he reconnected with their longtime friend, Woodie, herself a recent widow. They went on to get married and spent Don’s final years together.

He was preceded in death by Eileen, his wife of 43 years. He is survived by his wife, Olivia “Woodie” Stearns; his sons, Michael (Jenn) Stearns and Steven Stearns (Melissa Gesbeck); his granddaughters, Brinley and Bryce; and his sister, Carol (Dick) Wissmann.

A memorial service will be held at Parkside Village, 14501 Crestline Dr., Aurora, Colorado, on Saturday, November 14, at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.