Longtime baker, partner remembered as part of Jarosch's success
A conversation during a bowling league match in Chicago some five decades ago led to a nearly 20-year partnership that spurred the growth of Jarosch Bakery from a small storefront shop into one of the Northwest suburbs' most popular destinations for sweets.
Joseph Stephan and his late wife, Dolores, were co-owners of the Elk Grove Village bakery with Herb and Betty Jarosch for nearly 20 years, from 1968-1987. The business grew so much during those years that they needed to expand several times just to keep up with demand.
Joseph Stephan died Feb. 5. He was 88.
“My dad really helped with the continuity, Herb couldn't have handled the volume alone,” said Mark Stephan, who worked at the bakery along with his siblings and the Jarosch siblings.
“The business was growing by leaps and bounds,” he added. “I'd deliver something like 40 wedding cakes a weekend during the mid-1970s.”
Current owner Ken Jarosch says Stephan and Herb Jarosch grew the business together, during the tremendous growth years of the suburbs.
“Joe's impact definitely was in the shared management and shared responsibility for getting the work done,” Jarosch said. “He was just a quality baker.”
Family members say the two men struck up a friendship back in the 1960s, while competing in a bowling league sponsored by the Master Bakers' Association.
At the time, Stephan ran the Lincoln Pastry Shop - a bakery originally started by his father - in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. But at one of their bowling matches, Stephan offered to buy out George Jarosch, who founded the bakery with his son, Herb, in 1959, and allow him to retire.
The spontaneous offer resulted in a collaboration between Stephan and his wife Dolores, and Herb and Betty Jarosch that lasted nearly two decades, with the men running the bakery in the back and women handling customers and special orders in front.
“Herb ran the oven, so everything funneled through him,” Mark Stephan says. “My dad handled the production side, including setting up the daily prep work for the things they were making for the next day, and ordering all of the ingredients.”
His younger brother, Rick, said the two families had a lot in common: they each had four children and both had grown up in the business, watching their fathers work as bakers.
“I always admired their partnership,” Rick Stephan said.
Stephan's Lincoln Park bakery specialized in producing hand-rolled, Bavarian pretzels, but he didn't find as much demand for the German specialty in the suburbs. Instead, Stephan brought some of his prized pastry recipes, including a raspberry walnut slice that had won an award from Pillsbury.
He also brought his skill as a trained baker, adept at making all types of breads and pastries.
His sons vividly remember him using drumsticks to flip doughnuts over the fryer, and that he could do it without even looking. They also recall his handiwork in decorating the shop's many specialty cakes.
Although Stephan sold his portion of Jarosch Bakery to Ken and Kathy Jarosch in 1987, he looked back on his years working behind the scenes there fondly.
“We all worked very hard during those years,” Stephan said during a 2011 Daily Herald interview, “and always delivered the highest quality product.”
Stephan was preceded in death by his wife, Dolores, in 2011. He is survived by his children Joseph Stephan, Mark (Linda) Stephan, Christina Stephan, and Richard (Leslie) Stephan, as well as four grandchildren.
Visitation will take place at 9 a.m. March 19, before a 9:30 a.m. funeral Mass, both at the Chapel of St. John the Beloved at the Lutheran Home, 800 West Oakton St. in Arlington Heights.