Louis Karl Kern

Lou was born on March 13, 1952 in Englewood, New Jersey. He was the son of Gustav Kern and Josephine Catale Kern. Lou has two siblings: Barbara Kern DeGroot and Robert Gerard Kern. He was married to Sylvia Gallegos Kern on April 8th 1978 in Bellflower, California. He has three children: Debbie Villarreal Kern, Michael Robert Kern and Steven Louis Kern.

Lou’s influence and warmth reached countless people. He was known to be an exceptionally loving husband and caring father. Even through life’s difficult hardships, he would always gather strength from his family. His loyalty, compassion and generosity were clearly evident to anyone who had the privilege to meet him. We were blessed to learn many valuable lessons from Lou during his 64 years. He was an avid golfer, loved cooking Italian food and enjoyed culinary outings with friends and family.

Lou was the Senior Vice President of Long Products Americas for Outokumpu Specialty Stainless. He began working for the company that would eventually become Outokumpu over 40 years ago, right out of college. He held progressively more prominent roles in sales, marketing and operations, eventually leading his own division in 1997 in Richburg, South Carolina. He was a member of St. Matthew Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. He was the recipient of the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition. Lou was also a South Carolina Ambassador for Economic Development in 2013.

Lou is survived by his loving wife, Sylvia; his son and spouse, Steven and Karen; and his grandson, Liam; brother, Robert; sister, Barbara and numerous family and close friends. Lou was preceded in death by his father Gustav; mother, Josephine; daughter Debbie and son Michael.

Visitation with the family will be held before the service from 12:15 until the service begins.. The service will be on Friday, April 29th, 2016 at 1:00PM at Saint Matthew Catholic Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy, Charlotte, NC 28277. Reception to follow at the Piper Glen Country Club, 4300 Piper Glen Drive, Charlotte, NC 28277.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Myocarditis Foundation: myocarditisfoundation.org. Online condolences to the family may be offered at www.mcwewenpinevillechapel.com.