Stephen W. Crider

Stephen W. Crider, retired Kansas City, Missouri, banker and retired Chairman of the Board and CEO of Dean Operations, Inc. of Kansas City, Missouri, a resident of Bishop Spencer Place, age 86, died January 31, 2026. Dean Operations, Inc. was the holding company for Dean Machinery Co., a Caterpillar dealer, and Dean Realty Company, a real estate owner, developer and manager, both of Kansas City. He had previously served as Chairman of MMC Corp of Overland Park, Kansas, following a 36-year career in banking.

Steve was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on April 8, 1939, to the late Wayne Moore Crider and Alice Roudebush Crider. His grandparents were Noble Warrum Crider (farmer and teacher) and Ora May Moore (step grandfather former Greenfield, Indiana, Postmaster and Mayor Ora Myers (Mayor in 1910-14 and 1918-21)) and Roy R Roudebush (School Superintendent and Greenfield, Indiana, Postmaster) and Nellie Whelchel (step grandmother Clara McCarty Harter Roudebush). The Criders (1828) and Warrums (1821) were pioneer families of Hancock County, Indiana, and the Whelchels (before 1820) were pioneers of Hamilton County, Indiana. One set of his great-great-great grandparents, Edward Barrett and Abigail LeMay, were married in Hancock County, Indiana, in October 1831.

Steve and Martha Carleen Wales were married in Indianapolis on June 13, 1959, and she survives. He is also survived by two children, Gregory Stephen Crider, PhD, (Karen McKernan) of Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Vicki L. Crider of Salem, Oregon; his sister, Sherry Davis, and his niece, Jolee Davis Smith, both of Charlottesville, Indiana. Greg is Ellison Capers Palmer, Jr. Professor of History at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, and Vicki is a Senior Editor with the Oregon Legislative Counsel.

Nothing in life was more important to Steve than his beloved wife and children. The four traveled together numerous times over the years from wherever they were living and often took joint vacations to locations such as the coasts of Oregon and North and South Carolina, Seattle and Puget Sound, Colorado, Callaway Gardens, Chilhowee Mountain/eastern Tennessee, Chicago, Santa Fe, Spain, Argentina, Chile and Ireland. Their most recent international trip was to Ireland, followed by The Open in Scotland. Golf was a passion for Steve, playing throughout the U.S., as well as attending tournaments. Steve also was an avid fan for the Kansas City Chiefs and Indiana University sports teams.

Steve earned a B.S. in Business Administration and a J.D. from Indiana University-Bloomington and was admitted to the practice of law in Indiana, Ohio and Missouri. He was selected as a member of the Law Journal at the end of his first year of law school. He started his banking career in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1965. In 1974, the family moved to Upper Arlington, Ohio, when Steve joined Bank One Trust Company of Columbus, where he served as Vice President and Treasurer until moving to Kansas City, Missouri. While in Columbus, he was chairman of the Ohio Bankers Association Personal Trust and Probate Committee and on the Board of Regents of the Ohio Trust School, was a founding member and the initial treasurer of the Columbus Landmarks Foundation, was a member of the board of the Columbus YMCA, graduated from Leadership Columbus in 1977 and was ordained as an Elder of the Covenant Presbyterian Church of Upper Arlington.

Arriving in Kansas City, Missouri, in late 1979, Steve served as Executive Vice President-Trust and later as President and CEO of Traders Bank of Kansas City. Subsequent to that, he was Vice Chairman of United Missouri Bancshares (now UMB Financial Corporation) and Chairman and CEO of UMB City Bank, Executive Vice President-Trust of Merchants Bank of Kansas City and President, CEO and co-founder of George K. Baum Trust Company.

Steve joined the board of directors of Dean Operations, Inc. of Kansas City in 1981 and became Chairman of the Board and CEO subsequent to the death of Lester M. Dean, Sr., the founder of Dean Operations, serving in such capacity until his retirement in November 2015. He also served on the board of MMC Corp of Overland Park, Kansas, from 2003-2010, the last five years of which he was Chairman of the Board.

Civic activities in Kansas City included serving on the Planned Giving Committees of the Children's Mercy Hospital and of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; as a trustee of the Clearinghouse for MidContinent Foundations; as a board member of the Estate Planning Society of Kansas City, Missouri; as a commissioner of the Kansas City, Missouri, Landmarks Commission; as a member of Rotary Club 13 of Kansas City, Missouri; as a member of the Banking Advisory Board of the Bloch School of Business at UMKC; as a member of the Civic Council of Kansas City and the original Downtown Council of Kansas City; and as a member of the board of the Greater KC YMCA and of the Leukemia Society.

Steve belonged to the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, the Missouri Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Indiana State Bar Association and the Ohio Bar.

Steve was a member of Second Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Missouri. He was a former member of Mission Hills Country Club in Mission Hills, Kansas, the Kansas City Club, the University Club of Kansas City (board member and Treasurer) and the Society of Fellows of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. He previously belonged to Orchard Ridge Country Club in Fort Wayne, Brookside Country Club in the Columbus, Ohio, area, the University Club in Columbus, Ohio, and the Landings Club at Skidaway Island, Georgia.

During their time in Fort Wayne, Steve and Martha were involved in many civic and political activities. Steve was an original member of the Fort Wayne & Allen County Convention & Tourism Authority. He served as secretary of the Allen County, Indiana, Democratic Central Committee from 1968-1974, was the Democratic member of the Allen County Election Board from1972 to 1974 and was the nominee of the Indiana Democratic Party for Secretary of State of Indiana in 1968 at the age of 29. Also in Fort Wayne, he taught real estate courses at the Indiana Institute of Technology.

In Florida, Steve served six years as a member of the board and as treasurer of Vasari Country Club Master Association in Bonita Springs and prior to that as a member of the board and treasurer of Spanish Wells Golf and Country Club in Bonita Springs. In his quasi-retirement, he spent considerable time on the genealogy of Martha's and his families and of the residents of Hancock County, Indiana, and surrounding counties.

A Celebration of Life will be scheduled at a time to be determined. Memorial contributions may be made to the Coterie Theatre, thecoterie.org, 2450 Grand Blvd., Suite 144, Kansas City, Missouri 64108-2520, or your favorite charity.