Peter Gerhards

May 29, 1928 – May 3, 2023

Longtime Silverton resident Peter Gerhards died May 3, 2023, after a series of falls in early April. He was just 26 days short of his 95th birthday and looking forward to a planned celebration in his honor.

Peter was born May 29, 1928, on a 20-acre farm near the one-building town of Loring, Kansas. He was the second of eight children of Mathias (Matt) and Margaret (Fritschen) Gerhards. The Great Depression caused the loss of the farm and the family’s eventual move to Topeka. In 1944 the family moved to Portland, Oregon, where Peter began 11th grade at Central Catholic High School, graduating in 1946.

That fall he enlisted in the US Army Air Corp, serving three years at the Pentagon. He married Genevie (Jennie) Dietz on June 19, 1948, at Bolling Field in Washington DC. He left the Air Force in 1949, but after a few months of civilian life and with no money to enter college as he’d hoped, Peter enlisted in the US Army. He remained in the military service until 1970, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Tours of duty took him and his family to many posts across the country. In the early 1960s, he was among the many noncombatant advisors in South Vietnam, serving as advisor to the Vietnamese Military Personal Office and teaching English to Vietnamese nationals who worked there. After retirement, seeking a less stressful lifestyle, he and son Ross made an exploratory journey to the Willamette Valley in early 1972, where he discovered and fell

Terry Caster April 7, 1945 – April 20, 2022

in love with Silverton. Soon he became involved in the life at St. Paul Parish, serving on the Parish Council and as a Eucharistic Minister. He also formed strong relationships with some of the monks at Mount Angel Abbey, where he worked for a time.

In 1973 Peter and Jennie purchased an old farmhouse on six acres outside the Silverton city limits. He enjoyed country life, raising cows, riding his horses, growing tomatoes and grapes, and making gallons and gallons of wine.

His wife, Jennie, of 58 years, died in 2006. After a fall in 2021, Peter moved to Mount Angel Towers, where he lived contentedly until he was hospitalized on April 9, 2023. He spent his final days under hospice care at an assisted living facility in Woodburn.

Peter is survived by a sister, Susanna Perletti; sons, Paul Gerhards (Robin), Mark Gerhards (Florence), Ross Gerhards (Sue), and John Gerhards (Patty). He leaves behind 16 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and two great-greatgrandchildren.

Funeral services will be Friday, May 26, at St. Paul Catholic Church, 1410 Pine St., Silverton. Services begin with a 10 a.m. viewing, followed by a recitation of the Rosary at 10:30. A Funeral Mass will be offered at 11, with a burial ceremony immediately after. A reception will be held in the parish hall afterwards. Arrangements by Unger Funeral Chapel – Silverton.

Free Fish Day returns to Silverton Reservoir

On Saturday, June 3, 2023 the Silverton Lions will host Silverton Free Fish Day, co-sponsored are the Silverton Kiwanis, the City of Silverton and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. This will be the 27th yearly event.

The day starts at 8 a.m. through 3 p.m. The reservoir is closed during the event. Transportation to and from the reservoir will be provided by shuttle buses that stop every half hour at the vacant lot between Roth’s and Ratchet Brewery, Robert Frost School parking lot, Silverton Country Museum, and the Church of the Nazarene.

Everyone is welcome to participate. You can bring your own fishing poles, etc. or provided equipment, bait, and fishing expertise is available. The Silverton Kiwanis will serve hot dogs and beverages. Several volunteers from the fire district and Silverton Police Reserves will be on hand for any emergency services.

This free event offers children and their families an opportunity to come together to “do a little fishing.”

Call Jan Holowati, 503-873-4809, for further information.

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.