Kenneth A. Stein, born June 11, 1952, passed away on Dec. 28 in Evanston, Illinois, after a hard fought battle with leiomyosarcoma.
He was a long time resident of Evanston and worked for many years in downtown Chicago at the Chicago Board of Trade.
Ken grew up in Kansas City. He became a bar mitzvah at Temple Beth El at 9400 Nall and went to Shawnee Mission West High School. Ken attended Northwestern University for his freshman year of college and then graduated from the University of Kansas in 1974 with a degree in economics. He was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
He put himself through college working a variety of jobs, including as a carpenter in Evanston as well as at the loading docks in Kansas City, where he was a member of the Teamsters Union Local #41. His hard work paid off, and he graduated from college debt-free.
After graduation, Ken’s career in the grain industry included jobs in Kansas City, where he was a member of the Kansas City Board of Trade; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Washington, D.C., where he worked for World Perspectives, Inc. before settling down in the Chicago area. Ken researched, edited, authored, challenged and traded commodity futures, specializing in the grain markets. He co-managed a fundamental discretionary CTA grain futures portfolio that was honored with the prestigious Managed Futures Pinnacle Award in both 2015 and 2014, awarded for the Best Five Year Single Sector CTA Track Record. The many facets of the grain industry, its futures and cash markets inspired Ken throughout his successful career.
In his youth, Ken enjoyed playing all school athletics, including football and baseball, and was an active Boy Scout, then Eagle Scout. His teachers and coaches, as well as his local Boy Scout leaders, had a lasting and very positive impact on his life.
Ken enjoyed skiing, running, hiking and sailing. He was an avid fisherman and loved fly fishing in Michigan, with its outstanding natural beauty along the lake and riverfronts. Ken appreciated a good bottle of wine as well as a fine cigar. He enjoyed spending time in the local cigar shop in the Chicago Board of Trade, talking world events and politics with all who happened to venture in that day.
His grandparents were Ben and Ethel (Haith) Stein and Sam and Betty Agron. He leaves a sister, Leslie J. Wells (Bob) of Shoreacres, Texas; no children; and many caring friends across the country.
Ken always said he owed everything to the people of Johnson County — their Shawnee Mission schools (Boys State ’69), Boy Scouts (Order of the Arrow), 3 & 2 baseball, Y football — and that there were no finer values than those the community instilled.
There will be a celebration of Ken’s life held in Chicago at a later date.
