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Stephen Grabow Obituary
January 15, 1943 - January 19, 2025
Bloomington, Minnesota - Stephen "Steve" Harris Grabow was born on January 15, 1943, in New York City to Ida (England) and Philip Grabow. He passed away on January 19th in Bloomington, Minnesota. He is survived by his daughter, Nicole Grabow, son-in-law, Martin Reames, and granddaughter, Elizabeth Reames (all of Bloomington, Minnesota); sister-in-law Ingrid Grabow, niece Lisa Swanson, and nephew Eric Grabow (all of the greater Los Angeles area, California). He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Richard. Steve grew up in Brooklyn, New York and attended the University of Michigan where he was awarded a Bachelor of Architecture in 1965. He completed graduate work at Pratt Institute (1966) and a doctorate in urban design at the University of Washington (1973). In 1973 he joined the architecture faculty at the University of Kansas (KU), retiring in 2017 as Full Professor. Many KU architectural graduates will remember his fourth-year studios focused on concert halls and opera houses. Between the 1980s and his retirement he directed numerous study-abroad programs in North Africa, Europe, and Great Britain. Many KU students secured professional appointments in Chicago architecture firms through the travel program Steve directed there between 1987 and 2012.
Steve Grabow was a loving and devoted father and grandfather, a valued and trusted faculty colleague, and a respected and generous teacher and mentor to two generations of architecture students. The family requests memorials be directed to the Stephen Grabow Scholarship at the KU Endowment Association. A celebration of Steve's life will be held in Lawrence, Kansas, at a date to be announced.
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Memories and Condolences
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JB Meadows
March 3, 2025
Mentor, colleague, poker buddy, and most of all good friend. I will miss our conversations, but remember the many good times we shared over the years.
Kira Gould
February 2, 2025
I feel so fortunate to have known Steve as a neighbor, friend, and mentor, and luckier still to have had the opportunity to learn from him through travels, especially a memorable visit to Berlin and also an amazing trip to Tunisia. I treasure those memories and am forever grateful for his book recommendations and encouragement to think more deeply and broadly. He was a lovely human. Sending much love to Nicole, Martin, and Zibby.
Hugh D Lester PhDc
January 31, 2025
Foundational faculty in SAUD driving the student experience for decades. A life well lived.
Harlanne Roberts
January 31, 2025
This is such sad news. Stephen was such a renaissance man-lover of classical music, opera, beautiful architecture, superb teacher and mentor, great father and a wonderful friend. His death is such a loss to the architecture world. I will miss him so much. Love to Nicole and family. Victor Papanek and I loved him so much and valued his friendship.
Thomas Begmann
January 30, 2025
Dr. Grabow was my first teacher on my first day in KU in 1981 at KU in Intro to Architecture. He said, "your don't even start to good at this profession until your over 50". I am well over 50 now, and still working on getting good but he gave us all a great foundation to work from. A brilliant man, a cleaver wit and a lasting impact. My daughter had him as a teacher 30 years later...and felt the same way. Thank you Dr. Grabow.
Jane Hudson
January 28, 2025
Deepest condolences, Nicole, to you & your family. Your father was a sincere and kind-hearted friend to many, in the short time I was privileged to know him. He gave much and will be dearly missed. I miss seeing you, too!
Scot Hein
January 24, 2025
Stephen, along with the late Harris Stone, were so influential for me and my emerging interest in urban design while at KU. His contextual microwave tower in downtown Lawrence sparked an interest in public realm/infrastructure expression towards strengthening civic identity and local place making. I am grateful for the brief time with him during the mid-late 70's. My condolences to his family and friends.
Robert Smith KU School of Architecture 1974
January 22, 2025
Steve convinced me to go to graduate school for urban design in NYC. It changed my life. I will always be grateful.
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