Charles Stiles

Ross “Charles” Stiles was born December 9, 1938 in Plainview, Texas, and died December 16, 2025 in Santa Fe, New Mexico from Parkinson's Disease with accompanying dementia.

Although born in Texas, Charles spent most of his childhood in a small town on the edge of the Santa Rita Del Cobre (copper) mine near Silver City, New Mexico. It was an atypical small town since the residents came from a number of different places to work at the mine. Charles's brother, Jim, was born shortly before they left New Mexico for California.

In 1950 Charles was at a perfect age to enjoy the family’s move to San Francisco. He lived in a multicultural neighborhood with a large Italian family on his street and his best friend, who had French grandparents, on another nearby street. Charles threw an after school paper route and explored much of the city on his bicycle, sometimes stopping in to do small chores at the family hat shop where his father and uncle worked cleaning and blocking hats.

The family next moved back to Texas buying a home near family in Dallas. There, Charles experienced his first culture shock; Dallas was segregated. Charles completed his education in Dallas, at Woodrow Wilson High School followed by Southern Methodist University and SMU's Dedman School of Law. While an undergraduate senior English major, Charles met Ruth Massey in Romantic Literature. They married in 1962. Ruth describes their connection and attraction as ‘a meeting of the minds’. They would share and nurture this connection over 63 years.

In 1964 Charles accepted his first job as an attorney, and the young family arrived in Houston, at that time a vibrant, young city on the verge of dramatic growth in population, business, and culture. It was an exciting place to be young and just starting out. Charles left his first law firm to join an attorney he had grown up with in Dallas, John Eikenburg, to form Eikenburg and Stiles. Not interested in being a litigator, Charles focused on commercial real estate and banking. Many of his clients were developers and builders. Charles's motto was "write a good contract and you don't have to go to court." As an experienced and respected real estate attorney, Charles was asked to teach continuing education courses at the University of Houston and South Texas law schools.

During the forty-one years that he lived in Houston, Charles, together with wife Ruth, were supporters of The Houston Grand Opera and The Alley Theatre. Charles was active in his community, volunteering many hours for the Opera board, St Francis Episcopal church vestry and school board, the Houston Bar Association, and more. He loved to play tennis and to engage in interesting conversations over dinner with family and friends. To Charles travel was a treat, particularly trips to the British Isles, France, Italy, Croatia and his favorite city, Venice.

Upon retirement, Charles and Ruth moved back to his childhood home state of New Mexico, choosing Santa Fe for its rich cultural life, including the world renowned Santa Fe Opera. A life-long avid reader and interested in a broad range of subjects, Charles especially loved history. He enjoyed in-depth conversations on everything from William Marshal, a 12th century Knight Templar, to current research in biological phages. Charles enjoyed completing the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle, admitting that contemporary pop culture and music were his areas of weakness. And yet, he knew so much about so many subjects, his daughters claimed that even when he didn’t actually know the answer to a question, he could make up an answer that sounded entirely plausible.

In Santa Fe, Charles and Ruth enjoyed the many courses offered at the RENENSAN Institute for Lifelong Learning where they developed wonderful, enduring friendships. Perhaps, though, a friend from  Houston captured Charles best when he wrote, "I admired Charles for his intellect, good humor and independent spirit.” Charles was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2018.

Charles is survived by his wife, Ruth, two daughters, Deirdre Stiles and Valerie Tadvick and their families, his brother Jim Stiles (Janet) and nephew Dylan Stiles and his family. A service will be held at St. Bede's Episcopal Church February 7, 2026 at 2:30 p.m. with reception following at The Montecito Santa Fe. In lieu of flowers please make donations to Santa Fe’s St Bede's Episcopal Church, the Parkinson’s Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union.