Mr. Stein was born Oct. 14, 1921, in Muscatine, the son of Simon Gerberich Stein II and Jessie Waugh Eldridge Folsom. He married Mary Edith Pinkerton on May 16, 1946, in Oakland Calif. He was a member of the 32nd Degree Mason, a Shriner, Jester, Elk, Rotarian, and Quiet Birdmen. He was a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, in Exeter, N. H. and the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He was employed in the physical and chemical laboratories of the Phelps Dodge Copper Products Corporation in Bayway, N. J., early in his career. He served in the U.S. Navy on the Saipan in the Marianas Islands during World War II. Following the war he was employed by Central State Bank. He purchased the S. G. amp; P. Stein Furniture Company on its 100th anniversary. He served as a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church, the Masonic Temple Association and on the Advisory Board of the Greenwood Cemetery. He previously served as director of Varied Investments Inc. He was a Director of Central State Bank and of its holding company, Central Bancshares Inc. He served as Chairman of the Board of both organizations for many years.

Stein was an avid book collector and was involved in many rare books/bibliophile societies. During his time as owner of Stein Furniture, Gerald Ford's daughter wished to have a brass bed in her room at the white house. A staff member was tasked with finding one. They reached out to the Metroplitian Museum of art in New York to inquire about a bed. The curator at the time of American Art was orginally from Muscatine, Iowa. She did not have one on hand but knew where they would be able to get one, Stein Furniture.

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