Golden Flashes Mourn the Passing of Steve Schoonover
3/3/2020 12:33:00 PM | Baseball, General
KENT, OHIO- Kent State baseball and the athletic department are mourning the passing of Steve Schoonover, who died on Thursday evening. He was 74.
"Steve had a charismatic personality that endeared him to everyone he met," Kent State Athletic Director Joel Nielsen said. "He, along with his brother Rick and sister Sheri (through the Schoonover Foundation), were instrumental in providing the necessary resources that developed Schoonover Stadium into one of the premier college baseball venues in the Midwest. He will be dearly missed by his Golden Flashes family at Kent State."  Â
The Schoonover Foundation donated $1.53 million to Kent State in November of 2003. That donation led to the upgrades to the Kent State baseball stadium, then named Gene Michael Field. When the renovations were completed in 2005, the field was renamed to Schoonover Stadium, to honor his father, 1949 Kent State alum Hal Schoonover and his wife Julia. Hal played baseball at Kent State from 1947-49, serving as team captain in his senior season.
"Easily one of the most interesting people I ever had the chance to meet," former Kent State Athletic Director Laing Kennedy said. "He was always energetic, always very friendly and constantly wanted to know what he could do to help."
Steve was a 1967 graduate from Ohio University and earned a law degree from Creighton University in 1972. He was the founder and CEO of several telecommunication companies including: The Fibrebond Corporation, Blue Ridge Cellular, Cellxion LLC and Module X Solutions. He was named the Entrepreneur of the Year twice by Ernst and Young and USA Today.
"He was such a dynamic person," head baseball coach Jeff Duncan said. "His enthusiasm was so contagious, and he was the type of person you knew was successful at everything he did."
Visitation for Steve will be held on Wednesday in Shreveport, Louisiana. Details on the arrangements can be viewed here.
