Scholarship will honor Austintown CO victims

Photo

Brian and Shirley Sterling

By Elise Franco

efranco@vindy.com

LAKE MILTON

Friends and family have set up a scholarship in the name of an Austintown couple who died suddenly in June.

Brian and Shirley Sterling, 52 and 47, died of carbon monoxide poisoning June 5 in their Burkey Road home, and loved ones have been thinking since then of a way to keep their memory alive.

Loren Cole, owner of Peaberry’s Cafe in Canfield, was the best man in the Sterlings’ wedding.

Cole said in honor of the couple, he began organizing a golf outing with Brian’s brother, Brett Sterling, of Sharon, Pa.; the couple’s three children, Brian, 25, Paula, 22, and Adam, 21; and Dave Kellic, owner of Outback Steakhouse, Boardman.

Cole said the Brian and Shirley Sterling Memorial Golf Outing will be Oct. 9 at Lakeside Golf Course, 2404 SE River Road, Lake Milton.

Check-in is 11 a.m. with lunch at 11:30 a.m., a shot-gun start is at 12:15 p.m., and dinner immediately follows the golf.

“Brian was one of my best friends, and we want to honor them and keep their names alive,” Cole said. “I wanted to do something because they were very good friends and good people.”

The cost to play is $65 per person or $130 per team, and the entry deadline is Oct. 2.

Cole said he expects about 120 people and hopes to raise between $3,000 and $4,000 for the scholarship fund, which is set up through Austintown Fitch High School.

He said he’s sure the golf outing will be a success and hopes to make it an annual event.

Paula Sterling, of Austintown and a student at Youngstown State University, said she and her brothers wanted to donate the money to a scholarship because they understand the hardships of paying for college.

“We know the cost of college can be overwhelming,” she said. “We felt the [high school fund] would be a really good place to donate the money to.”

Brett Sterling said he thinks his brother’s love of golf, and the many friends he had who played the game, will boost turnout for the event.

“I think this is important, mostly for the people who knew them,” he said. “It’ll get all their friends together to remember them.”

Kellic said he became involved after Paula Sterling began working at his restaurant. Outback is sponsoring and catering the event.

“This event is something that’s right up our alley because we do a ton of charity work,” he said. “It fits right in with our corporate philosophy and our philosophy to take care of our people.”

Paula said she and her siblings appreciate the support they’ve received over the past few months.

“We’ve been given so much throughout all of this,” she said. “This is our time to give back to the community through a fun event everyone can partake in.”

For more information or to register contact Loren Cole at (330) 518-9020.