Industry Icon Roger W. Stone, Formerly Of KapStone, Dies At 86
Corrugated industry icon Roger W. Stone died peacefully at home in Lake Forest, Illinois, on Sunday, September 12. He was 86. Roger will be remembered for his love of family, lifelong passion for business, kind and generous spirit, quick wit, and unassuming manner. He was born February 16, 1935 to the late Anita and Marvin Stone
in Chicago, Illinois. In 1955, he married his college sweetheart, Susan Kesert, and together they raised their three daughters in the Chicago area. Rog- er attended the University of Chicago Lab School, Lake Forest Academy, and earned a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsyl- vania in 1957. While in college, Roger’s entrepre- neurial spirit took root. He managed the concessions at his fraternity and created an innovative business by con- verting stamp machines into ballpoint
Cosmo DeNicola Chairman, Amtech Software
Roger W. Stone
pen vending machines. Building businesses became his avocation, and throughout his life he enjoyed nurturing others by providing professional advice and investing in small companies in need of growth capital. Roger began his career as a box salesman at Stone Container Cor- poration, a company founded by his grandfather, father, and uncles, and worked his way up to Chief Executive Officer to become an international leader in the paper industry. As CEO, he transformed Stone Contain- er into “the world’s largest producer and converter of brown paper-un- bleached containerboard, kraft paper, bags and corrugated boxes” with over 30,000 employees and $6 billion in revenue. ( New York Times ) Roger retired from Stone Container in 1999 following the merger of the company and Jefferson Smurfit in 1998. At an age when most busi- ness leaders would have retired, Roger went on to build two additional paper companies, BoxUSA and KapStone Paper and Packaging Corpo- ration with his son-in-law and business partner of 40 years, Matthew Ka- plan. Together, Roger and Matt built KapStone into the fifth largest pro- ducer of containerboard and the largest producer of kraft paper in North America over the next decade. Throughout his professional life, Roger worked to make the paper industry stronger and more successful. He touched many people as a team builder, mentor, and inspirational leader in his modest and under- stated way. He considered himself lucky and was quick to credit others for each company’s successes. The Chicago Tribune described Roger as a “savvy workaholic” who worked for business and pleasure. In his sig- nature plaid shirt, khakis, penny loafers and a plastic watch, Roger pos- sessed a “hands-on attitude… not ashamed of getting into the trenches to help his personnel.” Roger believed in the American Dream and worked to help preserve America as the land of opportunity. He and his wife, Susan, have dedicat- ed their philanthropy to “help people to help themselves” by providing economic and educational opportunities for all, often anonymously. Throughout his life, Roger was actively involved in numerous national and international corporate boards, including Abitibi Consolidated, Au-
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September 20, 2021
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