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Stark & Knoll co-founder passes away
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: April 27, 2017
He co-founded a law firm, served as managing partner and left a positive mark on the Akron Zoo and those are only some of Michael Lee Stark’s many accomplishments during his 80 years.
On April 7 Stark passed away after a brief illness.
“Mike was a good husband and father,” said his wife, Mary Stark. “He was very patient and a good listener. He was a great friend to many people over the years.
“Mike loved being a lawyer,” said Mary. “He was still practicing at age 80.”
“I could not have asked for a better person to form a law partnership with,” said Thomas Knoll, co-founder of Stark & Knoll. “Mike had so many strengths in addition to his legal skills, especially when it came to managing the business aspects of the firm.
“Mike and I not only had a great partnership, we also shared over 40 years of friendship. I think the fact that we enjoyed one another’s company made our partnership stronger.”
Born on April 29, 1936 in Watseka, Illinois, Stark grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana.
While attending Miami University in Ohio he met his wife Mary. The two were married for 58 years and had three sons David, Bob and Chuck.
After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in accounting, he received a full scholarship to Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington.
Stark spent the first year of his legal career at a law firm in Indiana before moving to Akron and taking a job at First National Bank.
In 1975, he joined Roetzel & Andress, where he served as managing partner for several years.
It was during his time at Roetzel & Andress that he first met Gregory Bean, now of counsel at Stark & Knoll.
“It was quite obvious right from the start that Mike was an extremely competent lawyer,” said Bean. “He was a very practical attorney who obtained results for his clients in an expedient fashion.”
The two became close friends, going fly fishing and golfing together on a regular basis.
“Our families were close and Mike’s loss is deeply personal to me,” said Bean. “Mike was a lot of fun to be around. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone.”
In 1985, Stark and Thomas Knoll co-founded Stark & Knoll.
“Mike and I were partners at Roetzel & Andress,” said Knoll. “We lived right across the street from one another and he and I often took fishing vacations together.
“On one of our vacations we started talking about the need for a boutique firm that represented businesses and owners and we decided that with our experience and areas of concentration combined with out client base we could be successful with such a firm.”
Stark served as managing partner from its inception until 1997. Today the firm has about 25 lawyers.
Stark & Knoll partner Orville Reed described Stark as a “stellar lawyer, a generous person and a good friend.
“The entire Akron community has lost a kind visionary who promoted and helped to support the best things in our city,” said Reed.
“As a lawyer, Mike Stark was best known for his excellence as an estate planner and was recognized throughout the state of Ohio for his insight and the quality of his work in that area of the law.”
Former client Charles Conner enlisted Stark’s assistance on several occasions, including for the family’s business Alcon Tool Company.
“Mike was humble and generous and acted more as an advisor than an attorney,” said Conner. “He would always listen to your concerns first before offering legal advice.”
Stark & Knoll Managing Partner John K. Krajewski said Stark taught him a number of important lessons over the years.
“Mike hired me in 1990 when he was managing partner and I ultimately took over for him,” said Krajewski. “I learned from him to never sweat the small things, always look at the big picture, build consensus, make decisions and move forward.
“He spent most of his career in the estate planning and probate area,” he said. “Mike had a calming influence, which is one reason I think he was so suited to the area.”
In addition to his estate planning practice, Knoll said for a number of years Stark also represented physician groups in merger and acquisition transactions.
A member of the American, Akron and Ohio State bar associations, Stark is a former Ohio State Bar Association Council of Delegates member and a former member of the board of governors of the Ohio bar’s Estate Planning and Probate Section.
He was also a member of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a past academician at the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law.
Stark created the Ohio State Bar Association’s Continuing Legal Education series the “Nuts and Bolts of Wills and Trusts,” which continues to attract large numbers of attorneys. He was also an adjunct professor for The University of Akron’s Master of Taxation program for many years.
Stark was involved in numerous community organizations, including the Akron Zoo, where he was a member of the board of trustees for 23 years and chairman of the board from 2006 to 2011.
“He played a big role in revitalizing the zoo,” said Bean. “He cared deeply for the zoo.”
The “Mike & Mary Stark Grizzly Ridge” exhibit, which includes Grizzly Bears, otters and red wolves, was dedicated in Mike and Mary Stark’s honor in 2013.
Stark also served on the boards of the Akron Rural Cemetery Association (Glendale Cemetery), Friends of Historic Glendale Cemetery, the Akron Civil War Memorial Society and Embracing Futures (formerly the Beacon Journal Charity Fund) as well as being a trustee of the Lehner Family Foundation.
In addition he was a member and past president of Portage Country Club, a member of the Rockwell Springs Trout Club, an Akron Art Museum trustee and trustee and president of The Robert O. & Annamae Orr Family Foundation.
Stark was laid to rest at Glendale Cemetery on April 14.
He’s survived by his wife Mary Campbell Stark; son Bob and wife Dawn and their children Elizabeth and Michael of Massillon; son Chuck and his children Sarah, Matthew and Griffin of Florida; his sister Gretchen Funk of Florida and sister-in-law Cathie Campbell of North Carolina.
His youngest son David preceded him in death.