Stephen Guinn

1961 - 2022

Stephen Guinn
January 2, 1961 - October 29, 2022
Fresno, California - Stephen Warner Guinn, age 61, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, October 29, 2022. Born on January 2, 1961, in Fresno, Steve graduated from Bullard High School in 1979 and received his BS in Psychology from UCLA in 1983. Steve was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, and held the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst (AIFA®) credentials.
Steve started working at a young age. His early resume included being an usher at the Rocky Horror Show at UA Cinemas, and a bouncer at Black Angus; both of which were not related to his future career path, but were the source of many legendary stories for which Steve was known to share. After graduating from UCLA, he spent 2 growing seasons in Santiago, Chile with Unifrutti, an exporter/grower of produce. He then began a career as an Investment Advisor, first at Bank of America, then moving to Edward D. Jones, and then Sanwa Bank. Beginning in 1998, he moved to Regency Investment Advisors, where he joined with Dan Ray and Marci Deck, to make Regency Investment Advisors independent in 2004. During his tenure at Regency, he was involved in the initial Save our Zoo campaign for Measure Z, on the Board of the City of Fresno Retirement Systems for the Fire, Police and Public Employees, a mentor for the Fresno State Mentor Program, and on the Board of the Make-A-Wish Foundation for numerous years. He retired from Regency in 2020 after 22 years.
Now to the good part. Steve was a "what you see is what you get" person. He had an upfront and electric personality that touched many. He made friends with everyone. While Steve considered his dad Mr. Fresno, he followed in his father's footsteps in that everywhere he went, he knew somebody. He was generous, jovial, warm, joyful, curious, and caring; traits that made everyone gravitate toward him. When Steve was around, it was guaranteed that you would have a smile on your face. He was respected, valued, and most of all Loved. Over the years at Regency, he had over 300 clients, most of whom he considered to be his friends. When he had business meetings, he spent 1% of the meeting talking business, and the other 99% spent discussing each other's lives. He truly cared.
In his spare time, Steve had numerous interests: playing bass guitar, trips to Cambria, wine tasting, playing Cribbage, hunting and fishing with his buddies, participating in the Nascar Fantasy League which he won 2 times, going on cruises, watching Westerns and Chuck Norris movies, muscle cars including his super charged Mustang, and attending the monthly St. Peter's Men's Club dinners. Over the last several years, one of his favorite trips was to the Indianapolis 500 race. He would drive across the country every year, taking time to see the sites along the way. This is how he discovered his favorite city Nashville, TN. Additionally, he loved going to live music concerts, attending over 300 shows over the last 17 years. Steve also enjoyed meeting with his Bullard and Phi Kappa Psi friends. Oh, the stories they could tell.
Steve was a wonderful son, husband, brother, and father. He is survived by his wife Sandy Beach; son, Matthew Guinn and his wife Juliana Musmanni; daughter, Allison Guinn; mother, Beverly Guinn; sister, Julie Starkey and her husband Steve; nephews, Collin Britton and Patrick Britton. Steve is preceded in death by his father Jerry Guinn.
A Celebration of Life will take place at New Hope Community Church in Clovis, CA on November 18th at 1:00 pm. The family would like to express their thanks to everyone who has reached out during this difficult time. If desired, friends may make memorial contributions to Care Fresno, 1940 N Fresno St. Fresno, CA 93703 or Make A Wish Foundation, 351 W Cromwell Ave. Suite 112-A Fresno, CA 93711.