Lawrence (Larry) Francis Stein, 73, passed peacefully on Monday, April 11, 2022, surrounded by his loving family. Larry, the middle of three children, was born on September 23, 1948 in St. Louis, Missouri to Ben Stein and Alice Stein. His friends and siblings remember him as a fun-loving boy, funny and mischievous, and as a young man who was a natural born leader, highly motivated, athletic, and intelligent.

He graduated from McCluer High School in St. Louis, Missouri in 1967, and in the fall of the same year joined his brother, David, at the highly esteemed Washington University where he began his bachelor studies in business. While at Washington University he was a proud member of Beta Theta Pi whose mission was to build men of principle for a principled life. After graduating with his bachelor's in business from Washington University in St. Louis, he immediately began his master's studies in business administration at the University of Missouri in Columbia. It took him only one year to earn his MBA at Mizzou.

Larry enjoyed two successful careers, the first in banking and the second in franchise sales, a career which afforded him the opportunity to become a world traveler. It was during his tenure in banking that he met his wife, Valerie, while they both attended the First Baptist Church of Ferguson in Missouri, and sang together in the choir. They were married on March 31, 1979 and had two children shortly thereafter, Christopher Lawrence and Stephanie Erin. After changing his career to franchise sales, Larry thoroughly enjoyed seeing new places and meeting new people all over the world.

His greatest joy was visiting and sharing his very favorite place with his family, Lake Geneva in Wisconsin, the stunning escape that he was introduced to by his own parents. Larry's first vacation as a boy was to Lake Geneva in 1949, and his last was to Lake Geneva in the summer of 2021. In the summer of 2022 it will become his final resting place, where he will join his mother and father at their very favorite place in the world.

Larry is preceded in death by his father, Ben Stein and his mother, Alice Stein; father-in-law, Dr. Robert C. Shermer II and mother-in-law, Doris Shermer; and brother-in-law, Dr. Robert C. Shermer III. He is survived by his wife, Valerie; brother, David and sister, Nancy; son, Christopher and daughter-in-law, Mary; daughter, Stephanie; grandsons, Luke and James; and granddaughter, Evelyn.

A service to honor the life of Larry Stein will be held on Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 2:00 p.m., at Mulkey-Bowles-Montgomery Funeral Home in Denton, Texas.