View source for STEIN, Laura


[[File:Laura Stein family.png|350px|thumbnail|right|<center>Laura Stein with her son, Matt, and husband, Steve.  </center>]]
<span style="color:#FF0000">'''STEIN, Laura Elaine'''</span> (1950-1993)[#554-86-4868], UCLA graduate in Anthropology, she was hired in 1992 by the Catalina Conservancy as it's first coordinator of Volunteers and Membership. She organized various support groups and volunteers, both from the island and from the mainland, to assist with Conservancy programs. On May 27, 1993 Stein was killed in a single car accident when her Dodge Ram 150 van drove off the road. She was 42 years old.

In a lawsuit against Daimler-Chrysler, it was claimed the accident was caused when the steering sector shaft failed on the truck causing it to run off the road and plunge down a cliff on Catalina Island. It was determined that Stein was traveling above the speed limit at 35 to 43 miles per hour on a dangerous, narrow, unguarded stretch of road. When she was unable to negotiate a turn, her vehicle crashed into a nearly two-foot high berm and shot off a cliff. Daimler-Chrysler claimed that the accident cause the broken shaft. A jury decided Daimler-Chrysler was not guilty.

The Laura Stein Volunteer Camp, located across Stage Road from the Haypress Reservoir was dedicated in her honor on June 12, 1994.