Des Plaines orthodontist recalled as a loving father, husband

Steven Banks left behind a lot of smiles - and not just from his patients.

The 58-year-old Des Plaines orthodontist is remembered as a Renaissance man: a talented musician and photographer and world traveler who had a love for boating and scuba diving.

It was while boating that Banks' life ended last week. Authorities confirmed this weekend that Banks' body was found on Kemil Beach, near Beverly Shores, Ind.

Banks went sailing on Lake Michigan with his 12-foot boat Wednesday, Aug. 19. His wife of 29 years, Kathy, said dentists and orthodontists normally take Wednesdays off, and Banks was no exception. As was his custom, he drove his beach house in the Miller Beach neighborhood of Gary that he considered his true residence.

"In the summer, if the weather was right, he would go on his little Sunfish boat, which was a small sailboat. You could get two people on it, but not very well," Kathy Banks said.

She reported him missing last Thursday when he didn't show up at his Des Plaines office for work. A search was conducted for more than 30 hours, during which a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter spotted his sailboat about five miles from the Indiana shore.

It wasn't until Saturday morning that hikers found the body on the shore, according to a spokeswoman from the National Park Service. Banks was wearing a life jacket, she said.

"(We hoped) that if he was wearing a life vest and a wet suit that he would be found. Of course he would be cold and hypothermic, but we would take him to the hospital," Kathy Banks said.

An autopsy is being conducted, although authorities believe the cause of death was hypothermia.

Banks, who practiced in Des Plaines for more than 18 years, is survived by his wife, who works in advertising, and a 27-year-old son, Evan, a math and science teacher at a charter school in Chicago.

"He was a loving husband and a loving father," Kathy Banks said. "He was so involved in and loved life, and was so interested in every little thing. At least he lived life to the fullest. He did everything that he wanted to."

Banks originally intended to be a musician. He could play any instrument, including piano and classical and jazz guitar, said his brother-in-law, John Von Dorn. Comparing him to Schroeder in the Peanuts cartoons, Von Dorn said Banks was always playing the piano or guitar.

"There was always music playing in the house," Von Dorn said.

In addition to music, Banks embraced photography, becoming an accomplished underwater photographer, Many of his pictures were taken in the Caribbean. He also loved to travel the world and scuba dive.

"He loved the water. That's why he went and bought the beach house, so he could take up sailing. And that's, of course, how he met his demise," Von Dorn said.

Kathy Banks said her husband was aware of the danger he faced in the water.

"The lake is dangerous. The wind can change at any time. People talk about that all the time and the riptides. But he always wore a life vest. He felt so comfortable in the water. He never felt threatened by the water," she said.

When the boat was found, the sails were completely missing and the rudder was broken off, Von Dorn said.

"Had he been attached to that boat, he would have probably been OK," Kathy Banks said, noting that there had been a tornado in Chesterton, Ind. last Thursday night. "The winds over the lake were probably really bad. He probably got separated from the boat. He could have been exhausted, too. And he didn't have a wet suit."

She credited the Coast Guard for its search effort.

"They said they hadn't done a search this extensive for at least a year," she said.

Steven Banks grew up in Western Springs. He studied music, receiving a bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University. He also studied at the New England Conservatory of Music. It was after he married and a baby was on the way that he decided to enter dental school at the University of Illinois at Chicago, eventually continuing there to study to be an orthodontist.

Being an orthodontist allowed him to do the things he loved, his wife said.

Des Plaines dentist Vincent Vivirito, who often referred his patients to Banks for their orthodontic needs, said Banks was an accomplished orthodontist whose patients were both adults and children.

Vivirito said Banks was active in dental societies, including the Northwest Suburban Branch of the Chicago Dental Society, where he served for a time as president.

Des Plaines orthodontist Michael Durbin knew Banks from dental school.

"What made Steve a great orthodontist was that he just had a great rapport with the patients and the parents and with his staff," Durbin said. "It was always a caring environment, and I think that's what really made his practice unique, that he really took the time with the patients."