K.C. Stock never stopped trying to make his communities better

K.C. Stock's sister once told him he should stop and smell the roses, but Stock preferred growing them.

Stock, 84, former owner of Cruisers Yachts and founder of Stock Lumber, died Nov. 28.

He was busy to the end. He purchased Stock Ranch in Bozeman, Montana, with his son, Brian, in 2020, and in 2021 sold Oconto-based Cruisers, which he owned for 28 years, to MarineMax Inc. of Clearwater, Florida.

"My sister said, 'K.C., you've got to smell the roses,'" Stock said during an interview in 1999, when he was named Rotary Club of Green Bay's Free Enterprise Award recipient. "I just enjoy being busy. I like challenges. I like working and being with people. I like learning other things."

A native of Oconto, Stock was not an enthusiastic student, although eventually he did serve on St. Norbert College's board of trustees and endowed student scholarships there. He graduated in 1956 from Oconto High School, where he was voted Least Likely to Succeed, which, if they were serious, missed the mark by about 100%.

Stock built houses at 19, raised cattle and founded a pallet company before he bought his father's lumber company, Scanlon and Stock, and renamed it Stock Lumber in 1971. Stock Lumber grew to a multi-state building supply operation, which he eventually sold for about $100 million.

Stock admitted he knew nothing about building boats, or golf courses for that matter, but he ended up doing both. He bought struggling Cruisers, based in Oconto, in 1993 because "they were going to shut down. I hated to see that happen."

He said he bought the company to assure continued employment for friends and follow townspeople. At one time, the company had 750 employees.

Cruisers became a premier manufacturer of premium yachts in the 33- to 60-foot range. The company expanded capacity when it acquired the former Carver and Marquis yacht manufacturing facilities in Pulaski. MarineMax now employs about 500 people in Oconto and Pulaski.

"You can't even put something like that into words," Victoria Bostedt, Oconto mayor from 2012-16, said about what Stock meant to Oconto.

Stock made an impact on the city with his philanthropy, Bostedt said, contributing or donating to numerous community and business projects there even after he moved away.

Bostedt said when, as mayor, she was struggling to come up with the funds to pay for what is now Aageson Pool at Holtwood Park and Sporting Complex, Stock's K.C. Stock Foundation donated $16,000 to make it happen. She said his donations also helped the city build a warming house and restrooms at Sharp Park and make other improvements at Holtwood, as well as Breakwater Park and Harbor on the bayfront.

"He was born here, he lived here (and), even after he moved, Oconto was always in his heart. ...," she said. "He just always kept giving."

Perhaps the most important thing Stock did that helped the city was to buy Cruisers in 1993. If the plant would have closed, it would have cost hundreds of jobs.

"He could have just went on with his life when he left here, but he didn't," Bostedt said. "That was a wonderful act of selflessness, to come in here and buy (Cruisers) just to keep them here, to keep those jobs in Oconto."

Then in 2001, he and Brian started Stock Development in Naples. They built two golf courses, Grandezza and Olde Cypress, and associated housing, among many other things.

Over the years, Stock owned eight farms, including the ranch in Bozeman; was a partner in Indian Tobbaco Co., which made cigars; owned Schweiger Furniture Co. in Jefferson, and founded the K.C. Stock Foundation, which made the lead gift to start the Children’s Hospital in Northeastern Wisconsin at St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay. One of his favorite charities, the HSHS St. Vincent’s Foundation provides Christmas presents to children in the Pediatric Oncology Unit.

He also was on the Green Bay Packers board of directors.

On top of his philanthropy, Bostedt said her lasting impression of Stock is that he never seemed to forget his roots and remained outgoing, friendly and humble even after making it in the business world. She said he frequently returned to Oconto and in his visits to Cruisers, he'd meet the workers in the plant instead of sheltering in an office.

"It didn't matter the heights he reached, he was always K.C. to people," Bostedt said. "He treated everyone the same. You have people who achieve in life and then pretty much forget everything around them. Not K.C. He always had a smile and a 'hello' for you."

"He was one in a trillion. No one can replace him," Bostedt said. "What a loss for Oconto.

"He just can never be forgotten. Never."

Visitation will be from 9-11:30 a.m. Dec. 5 at Calvary Lutheran Church, 1301 S. Ridge Road, with services at noon.

The full obit can be found here.

Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/. Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: K.C. Stock, who owned Cruisers Yachts, Stock Lumber, has died