When word of the June 19 death of local restaurateur and ski aficionado
Charlie Sperr spread throughout his hometown of Government Camp, there
was one place that served as the epicenter for people to grieve.

“We all spent that Saturday afternoon in tears and hugging each other at
Charlie’s (Mountain View),” said Maryanne Hill, a resident of Government
Camp and long time friend of Sperr.

Sperr, as Hill noted, spent much of his time at his eponymous establishment,
sitting at the end of the bar and chatting with everyone who walked in.

“I think that his essence is he loved people to get together and talk and have
a good time,” said Sperr’s daughter, Shelley Hakanson. “He valued friendship.
That was his thing.”

Charles Fredrick Sperr was born on September 15, 1923 to Fred and Elizabeth
Sperr in Portland. Sperr grew up in Milwaukie, all the while traveling to the
Mount Hood area to fish with his father and ski. An uncle who helped raise
Sperr first fostered his love of skiing after crafting a pair of skis from barrel
staves.

“He just loved skiing and everything about the mountain,” said Hakanson. “I
think when we moved up here in ’63, he finally came home.”

Sperr spent summers between the ages of 10 and 13 at the Clackamas Lake
Ranger Station, where he helped mule skinners outfit fire lookouts and guard
stations for the U.S. Forest Service.

He enlisted in the National Guard in 1940 and spent four years serving as a
heavy equipment operator in the 41st Infantry Division in the South Pacific
following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Sperr was discharged in 1945 and
enrolled at Oregon State College, where he majored in business and forestry.
During college, Sperr met Jeanine Shelley and the two were married on
August 17, 1947. The pair had a son, Charlie, and two daughters, Shelley and
Riki.

Called back into active duty in 1949, Sperr was stationed in New York, Idaho
and California, where he began a yearly tradition of skiing at Sun Valley that
lasted for 58 years.

After being discharged, Sperr returned to Milwaukie, where he worked selling
logging equipment for Wood Tractor Company. At the time, he bought a small
cabin in Government Camp, where the family went skiing and Sperr and his
wife taught skiing at the Jaycee Ski School and Mt. Hood Ski School.

At the time, Sperr frequented the Blue Ox Bar at Timberline, the Tramway and
the Log Lodge with his many friends. But in 1963, Sperr opened the Ratskeller
in Government Camp, offering food, drink and a night scene for skiers.

“I bought his first pizza; my wife and I,” said Sperr’s friend Bud England.

“That’s because we didn’t get there in time for the free ones.”

After a divorce, Sperr went to the Oregon coast, where he opened the
Ratskeller West at Cannon Beach in 1969.

He later returned to Mount Hood to open the Inn Between in Welches,
followed by another bar and restaurant, Thunderhead Lodge in Government
Camp, where he met Marilyn (Mickey) Wellman.The pair married and had a
son, Charlie, L., in 1976.

In 1977, Sperr opened Charlie’s Mountain View in Government Camp, a bar
that would host countless celebrations, including the annual Pray for Snow
Dance, King Winter (Sperr took the title in 1984 while his daughter Shelley
took the crown in 2010) and Sperr’s popular birthday parties. Sperr was also
known to sing and play the piano at the bar, including drinking songs and old
time favorites.

“We truly enjoyed his piano playing and singing, which he had not done much
of lately,” said Hill. “We’ll miss that.”

In 1983, Sperr started a cable TV business in Government Camp, which
carried the moniker “Charlie Vision.” Sperr also provided snow removal,
plowing and excavation services for the community.

Hakanson noted Sperr was well known by both Mountain residents and
seasonal employees, as he was able to connect with so many people through
his various businesses.

“I was surprised how many people said (Charlie) was kind of their ‘extra
dad,’” she said. “It’s pretty amazing how many people he was in contact
with.”

Sperr also enjoyed traveling and visited locations throughout the world,
including Spain, Hawaii, Germany and the Italian Alps.

In 2007, Sperr opened the Tygh Valley Saloon, while his son Charlie and
daughter-in-law Alicia provided help with running the businesses and caring
for Sperr.

Alicia Sperr reflected that despite falling into ill health in the later years of his
life, Sperr maintained a positive attitude, while also enjoying the affection of
his female patrons at Charlie’s Mountain View.

“I don’t think there was ever a lady who came into the bar he didn’t get a hug
and a kiss from,” said Alicia Sperr. “He was pretty lucky, if you ask me.”

Sperr is survived by sisters Betty Howe of Riverside, Calif. and Melinda
Herford of Bellingham, Wash.; sons Charlie D. of Vancouver, Wash. and
Charlie L. of Government Camp; daughters Shelley of Sandy and Riki of Bend;
and numerous grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

A public memorial will beheld at 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 12, at the Cascade Ski
Club, 30510 E. Blossom Trail in Government Camp.