FirstEnergyAll-American Soap Box Derby Countdown

Gregory R. Bean is an estate planning and probate attorney at Stark & Knoll Co. LP.A., joining the firm in 2007.

He graduated from The University of Akron School of Law in 1976, and The University of Akron Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences in 1972. He is an honors graduate of the Stonier School of Banking at the University of Delaware in 1992.

Prior to joining the law firm, Greg was the Senior Vice President and Executive Trust Officer for the former FirstMerit Corporation, headquartered in Akron, Ohio. He is a past president of the Ohio Bankers League Trust Division and the Akron Estate Planning Council. A frequent speaker on estate planning topics, he has been admitted to practice law in the State of Ohio; U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio; and U.S. Supreme Court. Greg's practice is focused on estate planning, probate and trust administration, and probate litigation. He is the program chair and speaker each year for the Ohio State Bar Association's highest attended CLE program entitled: "The Nuts and Bolts of Wills and Trusts."

Active in community affairs, Greg is past Chairman of the Board of the Akron­Summit Convention and Visitors Bureau ( dba The John S. Knight Convention Center), The Akron Auto Club, The Akron Zoological Park and Goodwill Industries of Akron. He is the immediate past Board Chair of the Western Reserve Historical Society. He is past President of Bluecoats, Inc. of Summit County. In addition, he is also the immediate past Chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Akron General Foundation. He is the past President of Akron Rotary, a Paul Harris Fellow, past Chairman of the Administrative Board of the First United Methodist Church of Akron, and immediate past President of Friends of Glendale Cemetery. In total, he has served as the chairman of the aforementioned boards for forty-two years. He currently serves on the boards of The Akron Zoological Park, The Western Reserve Historical Society and the International Soap Box Derby, as well as serving on the Executive Committee of Glendale Cemetery and Friends of Glendale Cemetery. He formerly served on the boards of The Akron Art Museum, The East Ohio United Methodist Foundation, the Bath Community Fund and the Barberton Citizens Hospital Foundation.

Greg and his wife, Pam, reside in Bath Township, Ohio. Their son, Justin, is a graduate of Denison University and Capital University Law School. In his spare time he enjoys golf, tennis, fly-fishing, skiing, gardening and running. He volunteers as a walking scorer at the Bridgestone Golf Invitational and runs on a relay team in the Akron Marathon. Mr. Bean has performed as Atticus Finch at Actors' Summit and at the Hudson Library, giving the closing argument to the jury in To Kill A Mockingbird.