Retired Sandpoint School Principal Dies

Charles Stidwell Coeur d’Alene

Memorial service for Charles A. Stidwell, 94, is scheduled for next summer. Coffelt Funeral Service in Sandpoint is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Stidwell died Tuesday. He was the retired principal of Sandpoint’s Stidwell Junior High School, which was named in his honor.

Born in Great Falls, Mont., he moved to Sandpoint in 1908. He graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1919 and attended the University of Idaho, studying chemical engineering. He received his teaching certificate in 1921 from Lewiston State Normal School.

Mr. Stidwell taught at Kootenai School from 1922 to 1926 and then taught at Farmin School from 1926 to 1942. He served in the Army during World War II in the European and African theaters.

Mr. Stidwell returned to Farmin School after his discharge, serving as principal until 1951. He attended Columbia University in New York during the summers, earning his master’s degree in 1951.

Mr. Stidwell was principal of the junior high school in Sandpoint from 1951 until his retirement in 1968. Stidwell Junior High School and Camp Stidwell were named after him.

He moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1984.

Mr. Stidwell was an honorary life member of the Elks Club No. 1376 and the Catholic Church. He was a member of the Boy Scouts Inland Empire Council receiving the Silver Beaver Award. He was awarded the Civic Service Award in 1947 and 1967 by the Eagles Aerie.

He received the Grand Lodge of Masons, Eastern Star community service award in 1962 and the Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce awarded him the Meritorious Civic Service Award in 1976.

He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the National Retired Teachers Association and the Idaho Parent Teacher Association.

Survivors include several cousins.

Memorials may be made to Camp Stidwell or to the Bonner County Historical Museum.