Graham Lee Sterling III, age 79, of Roseville, California, died on February 19, 2009.

Graham Lee Sterling III was welcomed into this world March 19, 1929, in Beverly Hills, California by his father Graham Lee Sterling Jr., his mother Helen Davis Sterling Hickson, and his older sister Sally Lee Sterling Norton. 

He was raised in Pasadena and attended Polytechnic School, The Webb School, and South Pasadena-San Marino High School.  He graduated from Occidental College and Stanford Law School and served his country during the Korean War as an officer in the United States Air Force.

He raised his four daughters, Katherine Sterling, Jennifer Lee Sterling, Leslie Ann Sterling, and Wendy Sterling McLean in San Marino, CA., where he practiced corporate finance law for O'Melveny and Myers for five years before becoming a co-founder of the law firm Keating and Sterling.

During the course of his life, Graham taught finance at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, was the co-founder of the ATM Gun Corporation and farmed 560 acres of alfalfa on his ranch in Modoc County with his wife of 30 years, Sherwood Sterling.  In 1986 they moved to Roseville, with his son Graham Lee Sterling IV, where he enjoyed practicing law, raising his son, and loving his wife.  He actively skied, fished, and slept under the stars of the Sierras and enjoyed being an active member of the Lincoln Rifle club.

He is survived by his wife and children, his five nieces and nephews, his eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The Sacramento Bee, March 8, 2009