LTC Jack K. Sterne, Sr., U.S. Army (Ret.)

LTC Jack Kiedaisch Sterne, Sr., U.S. Army (Ret.) passed peacefully on October 13, 2026, at age 92. He was born on August 27, 1934, in Keokuk, Iowa, the second son of Madison G. Sterne and Lyda Frances Sterne (née Kiedaisch). He lived a life of service to his country, his church, and his community.

Jack spent his early years in Keokuk but, following the untimely death of his father, he and his mother moved to Claremont, California so he could attend The Webb School, from which he graduated in 1952. A three-sport athlete, he was part of “The Machine,” a group of lifelong friends who would gather periodically in Southern California for the rest of their lives.

Upon graduation, Jack went back to the Midwest to attend Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, the alma mater of his father and brother. He was a catcher on the baseball team, a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and a cadet in the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. While in school, he married his first wife, Kate, and they eventually had two sons.

Jack graduated from Knox in 1956 and entered the U.S. Army Reserves. He was placed on active duty in 1958 and did tours in Taiwan and Korea before his first marriage ended in divorce. After his mother advised him to go find a nice Southern woman for his next wife, he was lucky enough to get transferred to Ft. Benning, Georgia, where he met and married Judith Evelyn Thomason in 1964. Their first son, Jack, Jr., was born in April 1965.

Four months later, Jack, Sr. shipped out with the First Cavalry to Viet Nam, where he commanded a field artillery battery in the Ia Drang Valley during the first major engagement of the Vietnam War, later chronicled in the book and movie “We Were Soldiers Once.” He survived numerous brushes with death before returning to the States. Subsequent postings included Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, where second son Charles was born, and Ft. Buchanan in Puerto Rico, which saw the birth of third son Paul.

The family’s final posting was to Ft. Jackson in Columbia in 1971. They bought a house on Saluda Avenue and settled down, joining St. John’s Episcopal Church in Shandon. Jack retired from active duty in 1977 as a Lieutenant Colonel. Reflecting his lifelong love of sports, particularly golf, his final position was Recreation Services Officer for Ft. Jackson. Over the course of his 20-year military career, he received numerous honors, including the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm, the Bronze Star, and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Upon his retirement from the service, Jack joined the executive leadership of Technology Diversified, Inc., a Columbia manufacturer of electronics, where he worked until 1983. During this time, he became active in the Richland Sertoma Club, of which he was an active member for over forty years. He was best known as “Mr. Sportsarama,” referring to the annual high school football kick-off event which he chaired for twenty-eight years. The Cheerleading Award for Sportsarama is named in his honor. He was President, Past-President, and District Governor numerous times for the Sertoma Club, which presented him its President’s Lifetime Service Award in 2013. With his big white beard and general good nature, he played Santa Claus at numerous holiday parties for hearing-impaired children through Sertoma.

Jack was extremely active at St. John’s, where he served as Senior Warden of the Vestry, lay- reader, usher, choir member, and eucharistic minister. He was well known for his role in the annual Feast of Lights celebration, in which he played one of the Three Kings as well as The Lord. He resurrected the St. John’s Youth Basketball program, where he coached middle and high schoolers from 1978 until the early ‘90s. He then ran the interfaith Elementary Basketball League from 1992 to 2000. The Men of St. John’s presented him with their David Scott Phillips Service Award in 1997.

An avid reader, Jack turned hobby into vocation in 1983, when he and wife Judy opened Volume One Bookstore in Five Points. They ran the bookstore together for eleven years, during which it became a Five Points institution, before eventually giving way to the reality of big box competition.

Jack married Linda Logan in 1998 and traveled the world with her, visiting at least five continents. He finally embraced retirement, walking 18 holes of golf three times a week and regularly volunteering for Meals on Wheels. As always, he was a super-volunteer and received the Season of Service Award from Senior Resources in 2018 after delivering meals for 25 years.

In 2021, Jack and Linda moved to Wildewood Downs and continued to make friends, playing bridge, taking on all comers at the putting green, and looking forward to visits with Jack’s four grandchildren. Jack lived for thirty years after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in his early sixties. He was loved by all who knew him.

Jack is survived by wife Linda K. Sterne and sons Jack K. Sterne, Jr. (wife Sunyatta) of Washington, D.C. and Charlie W. Sterne (wife Sara) and the Rev. Paul A. Sterne, both of Columbia. He is also survived by grandchildren River E.M. Sterne of Anchorage, AK, Madison Sterne Turrentine (husband Will) of Greenville, S.C., Fletcher O. Sterne of Charlotte, N.C., and Solar Berg of Washington, D.C., as well as niece Jennifer Sterne and nephew Toby Sterne, both of Nauvoo, IL.

Jack was preceded in death by his father and mother, as well as brother M.G. Sterne of Nauvoo, IL, who also lived to be 92.

The family will hold a memorial service on Friday, October 23rd at 11:00 AM at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 2827 Wheat St., Columbia. Following the memorial service the family will greet friends in the Barr Center at the church.

The family asks, in lieu of flowers, to please make a gift in Jack’s honor to support the Meals on Wheels program of Senior Resources, Inc. (www.seniorresourcesinc.org) or the Building Fund of St. John’s Episcopal Church.

Shives Funeral Home, Trenholm Road Chapel, is assisting the family.