Laurence Abraham Stein

Laurence Abraham Stein, “Larry” to his friends and family, was born in Weehawken, New Jersey, in 1934. With his parents, Morris and Estelle Stein, and brother Arthur, he moved to Jersey City, New Jersey, when he was a teenager. Larry grew to be 6’5” but even as a youngster he excelled at sports and basketball was his favorite game. He had happy memories of being a camp counselor as a teenager. As a young man he attended Columbia Prep School in New York City, Syracuse University, and Harvard. Over the years he lived in towns on both the East and West Coasts and on St. Thomas, in the Virgin Islands, where he developed a love of sailing. Thanks to his friends in Cave Junction, Larry became a dedicated mountain biker and remained an active cyclist until his last years.

In 1982 Larry met his future wife, the former Elaine Marilyn Greenberg, while both worked as card dealers in Reno, Nevada. They became inseparable. They discovered their ideal environment in Cave Junction, Oregon, while looking for a quiet place in the woods. They retired there and called it home for the rest of their lives. They led a generally quiet life but stayed in excellent shape through daily workouts and walks with their dog, Jake. Always planned with care, their trips abroad, card-playing vacations up and down the West Coast, and visits to their grandkids were recorded in their photo albums and on the walls of their home.

Larry was an original person and collected a wide variety of experiences in his 84 years. Many of his friends and family members will remember Larry as a tireless raconteur. He was liberal by nature and, aware of his own missteps, he expressed a wide acceptance of others. Besides being an excellent poker player, Larry was a voracious reader all his life, and was miles ahead of his peers in his adoption of technology. He was an active volunteer in the Illinois Valley public schools and library and also took a great interest in both local and state politics; he was proud that several of his letters to the editor were published in various papers over the years.

Larry and Elaine were married for 35 years in a relationship that brought them stability, vitality, contentment, and adventure. It would have been hard to imagine one surviving the other. Together they developed close and loving friendships with some of the good people in their corner of the world.

Early on the morning of July 6, 2018, Larry and Elaine died in an accidental fire in their home in Cave Junction.

He is survived by two children from his first marriage to Joan ne Schneckenburger: Joe Dines and Jennifer Castanet; son-in-law Craig Castanet; five grandchildren: Ben Dines, Mitchell Castanet, Sam Dines, Julia Castanet, and Damien Cesena; daughter-in-law Falicia Cesena; and one great-grandson, Robert Cesena.