Obituary of Robert LeRoy Stone

Rev. Stone is survived by his wife, Dorothy Stone, a daughter, Judy Levitt and her husband Philip of Iowa City, their daughter Jean Burke and her husband Chris and their son Vaughn of Plano, Texas, a son Tim Stone and his wife Donna of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a sister Ruth Ann Joyner and her husband Bruce of Yuba City, California. Robert LeRoy Stone was born January 4th, 1924 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He graduated from high school in Chandler, Oklahoma and attended Park College before joining the Air Force in 1943. On February 9th, 1944, he married Dorothy Von Huben in Chicago. After completing his Air Force service he received a Master of Divinity from the Chicago Theological Seminary, University of Chicago. He continued his education throughout his career, attending Mansfield College, Oxford University, England; Institute for Advanced Pastoral Studies at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland; Rutgers University; Union Theological Seminary of Virginia, Virginia Theological Seminary. Rev. Stone was the Founding Pastor of Manor Community Church in Chicago, Illinois. The family moved to Mason City, Iowa in 1956, where he was the pastor of the First Congregational United Church of Christ until his retirement in 1987. He participated in many church activities outside the parish, serving as President of the Mason City Ministerial Association, Moderator of the North Central Association of the Iowa Conference, Moderator of the Iowa Conference Congregational Christian Churches, and Member of Board and Chair of the Iowa Conference United Church of Christ. After his retirement he remained active in the Iowa Conference of the United Church of Christ for several years as an area minister. In November of 2001 Rev. and Mrs. Stone moved to Iowa City. Rev. Stone was active in many local voluntary associations including serving as a Member of the Board and Chairs of the Mason City YMCA, the North Iowa Chapter American Red Cross, and Chemical Dependency Services of North Iowa . He was also a Member of the Board of the North Iowa Medical Center and the Mental Health Center of North Iowa.