Richard J. Stern

Richard J. Stern, the retired chairman of the Missouri-based investment banking firm Stern Brothers & Co., who was remembered by colleagues as a "brilliant" businessman, died on New Year's Eve. He was 88.

Mr. Stern was an arts philanthropist and life-long resident of Kansas City, Mo. He led the family-founded firm when it managed the bond deals for a series of major local development projects, including Kansas City International Airport and the Truman Sports Complex and Kemper Arena. In addition to building the firm's public finance business, Mr. Stern also opened the company's door to managing corporate transactions.

"He grew up in the business and was a brilliant man," said Leonard Noah, a vice president of operations at Stern Brothers, where he recently retired after more than 30 years. Noah said Richard Stern was "a unique person, who didn't have a hard time making decisions." He knew all aspects of the business and "could value bonds and do the scales," Noah said.

Local market participants described Mr. Stern as both generous personally, and tough and demanding professionally. When Kansas City was planning to build an overhaul base for TransWorld Airlines, which would have entailed a complex financial transaction, it began by going to Wall Street. As the story goes, the "large Eastern bond firms got weak knees," Noah said. "Stern Brothers stepped up and did the deal."

Stern Brothers was founded by Richard Stern's father Sigmund and uncle Morris in 1917. Richard Stern went to work for the firm after receiving a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University in 1936. He took a break from the company to serve in the Army Air Corps during World War II as an intelligence officer. He became president of the company in 1956 and remained at the helm until 1986 when he sold off the assets of the business. Employees bought the underwriting section.

Mr. Stern is survived by a niece and nephew.