Steve Crowley, a longtime Twin Cities health care and technology analyst, was passionate about his trade, his family, his friends and his wine cellar.
"He also was very generous, a great gift giver to friends and very involved with numerous charities," recalled Matt Arens, CEO of First Light Asset Management, who considered Crowley a mentor. "And he was an organ donor. That was final testimony to his giving spirit."
Crowley, 50, was killed in a car accident on his way to work at First Light earlier this month. Crowley welcomed Arens to the industry in 1996 as a rookie analyst at Kopp Investment Advisors. And Crowley had joined Arens at First Light only a few weeks before his accident.
Crowley, a native of Rhode Island who graduated from the University of Chicago, began his Twin Cities investment career nearly 30 years ago at Craig-Hallum. He returned to that firm several years ago, before leaving to work with Arens at First Light.
"Steve was meticulous and detailed and also made strong connections with people," Arens said last week. "I have a stack of e-mails from colleagues, clients and others he knew through Craig-Hallum. His job was to scrutinize companies publicly, and he always was positive and constructive."
Brad Baker, the CEO of Craig-Hallum, recalled Crowley as painstakingly thorough and meticulous.
"He was one of the good guys," Baker said. "He was passionate, opinionated and unusually bright. You would never catch him saying, 'That's good enough.' You also knew where he stood.
"When he left [Craig-Hallum] recently to join Matt at First Light, we were excited for him,'' Baker said. "We stayed friends."
