Willis Lee Stone

STONE, Willis Lee, 71, widower of Eleanor Allen Stone, died Friday, January 30, 2009. Survivors include two sons, Jeffrey Lee Stone and wife, Terrah, of Arizona and Timothy Scott Stone of Emporia; daughter, Dawn Stone Chenault and husband, Stan, of Mechanicsville; three granddaughters, Megan Michelle and Micah McKenzie Stone and Eleanor Dawn Chenault; three grandsons, Samuel Emerson Stone, Garland Stanley Chenault IV and Stone Ashby Chenault; one brother, Richard Winfree Stone of Chase City; and a number of nieces and nephews. Son of the late Maxey Elmore and Elizabeth Leidig Stone, Mr. Stone was also preceded in death by a brother, Robert Hamilton Stone. Known as "The Voice of Emporia", Mr. Stone spent his 49-year career at WEVA Radio in Emporia, becoming President and General Manager upon his father's death in 1959. He was a former president of the Emporia Jaycees, former Central Region Director of the Virginia Association of Broadcasters and former president and active member of the Emporia Rotary Club, receiving a Lifetime Media Achievement Award in 2007. Mr. Stone was a former president of both the Emporia-Greensville Chamber of Commerce and Emporia-Greensville Industrial Development Corporation. Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Monday, February 2, 2009, at Calvary Baptist Church in Emporia, where Mr. Stone was a member. Interment will follow at Emporia Cemetery. The family will receive friends 3 to 5 p.m Sunday (tomorrow) at Owen Funeral Home, 303 S. Halifax Rd. in Jarratt. Memorial contributions may be made to Calvary Baptist Church.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.