STEVO

STEVO I first glimpsed him from a window of the St. Joseph Hospital room that our mother occupied on April 11, 1956, in Kirkwood, Missouri. We had a new baby brother! Daddy had held him up to the window, so that we would see him; we being me, 5; Schleria, 4: Harold, 1. Stevie was the name they gave to the baby boy, which he later discarded for Stephen, more formally later, two decades later , when he simply became known as " Stevo" to me, a remarkably bright young man. He departed this life in 2015. His was a rich and fulfilling sojourn. I remember his big eyes, big laugh, big ideas, big mind, and big heart. His proficiency in Latin from 9th grade served me well for years. He was my biggest cheerleader, as his wife Judi, and daughter Stevielynn, were his! He loved sports and Tiger Woods. He smiled broadly, laughed loudly, whenever he recalled my example to him and his peers in junior high and high school. He also was most adept at earning money, which he was not loathe to share with many, kin or not. He was a stockbroker and a broker-dealer, who later became a Republican, after Daddy and Mama died; yet he was a staunch student, advocate of black history and culture. He also partook of the finery of Western civilization, graduating Amherst College and Stanford University, with a Master's in Business Administration . Stevo was a complex, complete man. He was also my legal client, on a variety of issues and a man whom I loved and yet miss greatly. Happy birthday brother Stephen M. Coleman, whom I know was Stevo!