The third son and fifth of ten children born to Dulin Benson Stearns (1863-1962. son of Dulin Stearns and Rusha Elizabeth King) and Mary Jane Beachum (1867-1910, daughter of Jeremiah Washington Beachum and Mary Jane Taylor), Clyde Casey Stearns was born in Charlotte, NC. In his childhood, he was particularly fond of visiting his maternal grandfather, Jeremiah Washington Beachum (1830-1910), a Confederate soldier, in Anson County, NC.

Clyde Stearns attended the Baird School in Charlotte, and Trinity College (now Duke University). He served as an officer in both World War One and World War Two. In the 1920s, he and his older brother Carrold Adam Stearns (1892-1950) were involved in the development of the town of Statesville, where the family had moved in 1916. They built many of the roads in the area, and built the Stearns Building (Statesville's first...and only...sky-scraper) which included a theatre for both films and live plays, a restaurant, and offices. They also built the first Statesville Country Club. Clyde was president of the Lions' Club in Statesville in the 1920s. In the 1930s, he was a commander of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

In 1917, before America entered the first World War, Clyde and some of his friends decided they needed to help England to beat the Germans. They left Trinity College, and got as far as Baltimore, before they ran out of money. Ever resourceful, Clyde (who grew up in downtown Charlotte, NC), convinced the captain of a cattle transport ship that he and his friends were "North Carolina farm boys" who knew everything there was to know about cattle, and got them hired on as ship's hands for the Atlantic crossing. When they got to England, they spent a few days sight seeing, and then reported to a British Army recruiting office. The officer in charge showed them the newspaper headlines. America had entered the war that day. "You'll have to go home and join your own army, boys," he told them. I don't know if they went back on the cattle ship. Clyde served with distinction as an officer in both the World Wars, and attempted to reinlist when the Korean War began, but was told he was too old.

Clyde Stearns married Sue Estelle "Susie" Schell (1901-1998) of Conover, NC, in 1930, and they had three children: Susan Stearns (Mrs. J. D. Ramseur), Clyde C. Stearns, Jr., and Jeremiah Beachum Stearns. He lived in Conover where he built a lovely home for his family. He died at the Veterans' Hospital near Asheville, NC. He is well remembered for his wonderful sense of humor, and the funny stories he used to tell. He was an active member of his church and a devout Christian, and a Southern gentleman.