Harold Stein Obituary

Harold Richard Stein

Wadmalaw - The Honorable Harold Richard Stein, son of the late Harold Rudolph Stein and Mary (Mae) Cecilia Brady Stein Sullivan, passed away at his home on Wadmalaw Island on Wednesday, December 24, 2025. He was the fourth generation of the Stein family born in San Francisco, California. Born May 16, 1936, he graduated from George Washington High School and received an Associate of Arts Degree from City College and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Golden Gate College, all in San Francisco.

Magistrate Stein was one of the last US Air Force Aviation Cadets, a special training program whereby an undergraduate could obtain a pilot rating and officer ranking in the United States Air Force. Colonel Travis Hoover of the Dolittle Raiders fame gave him his final flight training examination in a Mitchell Bomber (B-25). Flying for nine years, he flew around the world in the C-124 Globemaster II, "Old Shaky", which is now a museum piece at the Charleston Air Force Base. His military service included combat support missions into Beirut, Lebanon and Vietnam. He was given a Certificate of Recognition by the Secretary of Defense. He obtained the rank of Captain as a Flight Examiner at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, OK. He was a life member and long time Post Quartermaster of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 10811, Wadmalaw Island, SC.

Magistrate Stein earned a Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law, Columbia, SC. He was a member of the South Carolina Bar Association and licensed to practice law in the state and federal courts of South Carolina.

His civilian career spanned many areas of law enforcement. He was an Assistant to the Warden at the South Carolina State Penitentiary. He served with US Customs before becoming a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, working primarily in drug smuggling cases in coastal South Carolina. He retired after 20 years with DEA, having also flown special assignments into Colombia, Panama, and Peru, South America, serving as a member of the George H.W. Bush South Florida Task Force, and served as a counselor at the FBI Academy, Quantico, VA. His last years with DEA were spent as Training Coordinator for the southeastern district, teaching state and local law enforcement officers in the states of South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and the Florida panhandle. Magistrate Stein was a life member of the National Drug Enforcement Officers Association. He was appointed an honorary Aide-De-Camp to the Governor of Georgia. The Governor of Kentucky commissioned him an Honorary Kentucky Colonel.

Shortly after his 60th birthday celebration, he was appointed a Charleston County Magistrate, and served eleven years as the Magistrate-at-Large on Johns Island, SC. He was a member of the South Carolina Summary Court Judges Association and the National Judges Association.

An adventurer at heart, he traveled the waterways and roadways with his wife covering all fifty of the United States. He was a member and former director of the Sea Island Yacht Club, Rockville, SC, a former member of the South Atlantic Yacht Racing Association, the James Island Yacht Club and the Knights of Columbus. He was a current member of St. John's Episcopal Church, Johns Island, SC. and a life member of the BPO Elks Lodge 242.

His wife, Marianne deCherigny Seabrook Stein, of Allandale Plantation, Wadmalaw Island, SC, and his brother, Mr. Justice William Douglas Stein (Suzanne) of the California Court of Appeals (Ret), survive him. He was formerly married to the late Margaret Satterfield Walter and is survived by their children, Harold Richard Stein, Jr. (Robin); Sharon Stein Williams (John), all of Charleston SC, John Douglas Stein (Alice Lynn) of Houston, TX and Laurel "Shelley" Stein Rabon (Dewayne) of Jacksonville, Florida, grandchildren Harold (Harry) Richard Stein, III (Allie); Michael Dewayne Rabon, (Lora); Stephen Ryan Rabon, (Kristi); Annalynn Stein; Heather Oswald (Drayton); Mary Frances Perkins, (Shane); and Michael Becka (Ryan). He also had eleven great-grandchildren.

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