Steven Henry Klein

Steven H. Klein, 86, of Columbia, Missouri passed away Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Columbia. Mr. Klein was born in St. Louis, Missouri on March 14, 1940, to Dr. Clemence and Esther Klein. He grew up in University City, a suburb of St. Louis and graduated from Washington University with a B.S.B.A. and M.S. in accounting, all with final honors.

Upon graduating college, he served as a Lieutenant in the Military Police Corps, U.S. Army, stationed at fort Riley, Kansas and Fort Gordon, Georgia. He was on active duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a time when much of the country thought WW III was imminent.

After receiving an honorable discharge, he moved to Honolulu and began his career in public accounting. After a few years he returned to St. louis and joined Deloitte, one of the largest international CPA firms in the world. He became both a certified public accountant and a certified financial planner and was promoted to partner in only eight years. Mr. Klein’s technical specializations include working with securities and brokerages, establishing strategies for inventory methods including the co-authoring of the Firm’s Inventory Methods Manual and teaching its national training program for eleven years and personal financial planning particularly for professional athletes who play baseball, football, and hockey. Also, he was responsible for several international clients, primarily those headquartered in Japan, Switzerland, and France. He had several administrative responsibilities as well, including serving on the Firm’s tax policy group, tax practice committee and being a founding member of its personal financial planning group. Additionally, he became a regional tax partner and was responsible for the Firm’s offices in the south-central region of the US.

In 1991, after 28 years in public accounting, he retired from Deloitte and immediately became an accounting professor at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. In addition to his teaching responsibilities he was a consultant for the Small Business Development Center, created and hosted “Your Financial Health” for a local TV station, and had several articles published in journals such as Taxation for Accountants, the International Tax Journal, Tax Ideas, and the Washing D.C. Tax Notes.

In 2003 he retired from Truman, moved to Columbia, Missouri and joined the accounting department at the University of Missouri, where he taught for another two years.

While living in Columbia, he became a member of the Optimist Club of Columbia (the Downtown Optimist Club), was its treasurer for two years, and was ongoing chair of the funding committee and member of the board of directors.

Mr. Klein is survived by his wife, Mariquit, who is a retired secondary teacher in the Columbia Public School System and is now a math teacher at Tolton CHS; a son, Spencer, a daughter Margo and three grandsons, all of whom live in Chicago; and a brother, Tom, who resides in Montana.

Visitation will be Tuesday, April 28, 2026, from 1-2pm at Memorial Funeral Home 1217 Business Loop 70 West Columbia, MO. Funeral service will begin at 2pm, followed by burial in Memorial Park Cemetery.

Condolences and fond memories can be shared at www.memorialfuneralhomeandcemetery.com