Barbara Stone Obituary

Barbara Stone August 29, 1934- May 6, 2024

Barbara was the first child of Perry and Winsome Hunter of Johnson City, Tennessee. Though childhood and her teen years she was surrounded and nurtured by a large family of grandmothers, aunts and cousins.

While at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia she met her husband to be, Jerry Stone. Barbara graduated in June of 1956 and following an extensive tour of Europe, she began a short careen in New York City where Jerry was in graduate school. She became Mrs. Stone on June 8, 1957.

Married life started at Ft. Eustis, Virginia and then to Brooklyn Heights in New York City where she celebrated her first anniversary with the birth of a son. She was a dynamo of activity, working with the Jr. League, chairing a mission for housing the homeless and being mother and wife. The arrival of a second son in 1960 called for a move to Summit, New Jersey where she managed a family that grew to four boys, expanded her social work, developed a respectable game of tennis, polished her cooking skills and still pursued her strong love for singing in choral groups. Among her recognized achievements in Summit was raising the funding for the "Jaws of Life" for the Fire Department which earned her a surprise award at a town meeting.

Barbara's love for music and singing began under the tutorage of an aunt who taught voice. She continued this passion through college and in Summit as a member of church choirs and a Jr. League choral group. After the move to Vero Beach, she was a very active participant in the John's Island Singers for twenty years. Choral singing had to be part of her life wherever she landed, with groups at her summer home in North Carolina and in the retirement community of Indian River Estates.

Another passion was decorating. One of the moments of joy at the beginning of the first pregnancy was the purchase of an antique dining table. This enthusiasm lasted a lifetime; she could find sheer pleasure thumbing through a wallpaper book. She was often called upon to help friends with their interior design and décor. She worked for a year in an antique and decorating shop just to be in contact with the furnishings and fabrics she found so beautiful.

Her younger years were blessed with good health and good fortune. With husband, Jerry she travelled the world, highlighted by a family safari to Kenya and Tanzania. In her later years she was plagued by the autoimmune disease, Scleroderma, which she bravely managed and adapted her social life and activities to the limits of her endurance.

Left to cherish the memories of her are husband, Jerry, son James and wife Ronna, son Christopher and husband David Fox, daughter-in-law Anne and three grands, Hunter, Read, Sarah and her brother Jim Hunter and wife Ree. Sadly, she was preceded by sons Jerry III and Perry, "Peb", Anne's beloved husband and father of the grands.

Memorial gifts may be made to support the research work of The Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center, P.O. Box 49143, Baltimore MD 21297-9143, or the Humane Society, 6230 77th St Vero Beach Florida, 32967.