Lawrence Armand Weiner
Lawrence Armand Weiner died Nov. 12, 2020. He was born Sept. 10, 1940, in Kansas City, Missouri, to Ethel and Nathan Weiner.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Joni Weiner of Leawood; their children, Mitch Weiner, North Kansas City, Todd Weiner, Kansas City, and Samantha Weiner Hammontree, Leawood; and grandchildren, Vincent Freeman, Destiny Freeman, Braxton Hammontree, Ethan Weiner, Mackenzie Hammontree, Nathan Weiner and Sasha Weiner; and three siblings: Sandy Tobias, Dallas, Terri (Zuckerman) Feldman, White Plains, New York, and Stanford Weiner, Minneapolis. He was preceded in death by his son Brad Weiner in 1985.
Larry grew up in Brookside. He was a graduate of the 1958 class at Southwest High School. He then went straight to work with his father, Nathan Weiner.
Filling gumball machines around the city and sporting a bowtie while being the “soda jerk” at Katz Drug at 63rd and Brookside would serve to open up his world as his father and mother prepared him for greatness.
Before that could happen, he would live out a fairytale and marry his sweetheart, Joni Diester. She would be the angelic divining rod to help keep him on path and give him true support for the difficult journey that would await them both. They were a team — yin and yang. She was the apple of his eye, and likewise.
Larry loved to travel nationally and eventually internationally throughout the years. They traveled to the Ozarks when the kids were younger, and then to places like Las Vegas and Miami. They loved to travel with friends and family, and even took annual sibling vacations starting in their 40s.
Larry believed in philanthropy. He gave generously to places like the JFS Brookside Food Pantry, BV CAPS or the expansion of The J and even the Weiner Religious School at Temple Beth Torah.
Raising three boys born in the span of 35 months and then finally getting his princess six years later would be all the motivation Larry would need as a young man to eventually become one of the most respected leaders in his industry. Larry partnered with Nate and later with Stanford upon his return from Viet Nam to set things in motion to become the largest manufacturer’s representative of Christmas decorations in the Midwest.
This firm would be called Nathan Weiner and Assoc. and would birth an import company out of necessity called “Sterling Supply” (later Sterling Inc.). This specialty, now third-generation business would grow to expansion levels where in its zenith it would employ well over 100 people, have impressive large corporate showrooms in places like Fifth Avenue NYC, Atlanta Merchandise Mart, Dallas World Trade Center, Kansas City and Minneapolis, and would be presented in National Rep showrooms in another 15 cities across America.
Nathan Weiner and Assoc. and Sterling would go on to supply small specialty companies and accommodate large retail discount entities. The Rep side grew to 40-50 lines of product and Sterling Inc. would eventually have approximately 4,000 SKU’s, 2,000 customers, five catalogs, five corporate showrooms, around 15 Rep groups and a warehouse you could play frisbee in. These customers were far and wide — basically anyone who sold Christmas decorations, which would become most of the retail public. He got lucky! These companies included Target, Costco, Sky Mall, Menards, Garden Ridge, Michaels and other national store chains.
Larry was also a pioneer in the growth of Southeast Asia. Larry Weiner’s name was very respected by factories in places like Taiwan, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and in the growing province of Guangdong, China. Forty years of carving relationships, touring trading companies and their factories, literally by the thousands, would round out his understanding and ability to source a product, sample it, display it, sell it, ship it, bill it and even ensure the customer how to sell it so the order would increase the following year.
It worked. Larry would have all four children work in the business and three would make a career out of it, benefiting from every small detail. The journey was grinding, long and arduous and so fruitful in so many fulfilling human ways. Larry had the quintessential golden American life. He had family, business, friends, community and love in a time and a place that could be considered so special. We already miss that hard charge that came so softly. Thank you, Dad. Your family loves you and will miss you.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Congregation Beth Torah, Attn: The Weiner Family Building Project, 6100 W. 127th St., Overland Park, KS 66209.
Online condolences for the family may be left at www.louismemorialchapel.com.
Arrangements entrusted to The Louis Memorial Chapel, 816-361-5211.
