Jan Stone

Jan Riddle Stone



Jane Ann (Jan) Riddle Stone was born in Salem, Ohio on December 14, 1928 to Harry and Doris Riddle and died on January 18, 2024, having recently turned 95. The family lived in Columbiana where her father was a pharmacist, until they moved to Tucson, Arizona. She, along with her parents and brother, Robert, were active in what is now Washington Avenue Christian Church in Elyria, Ohio. Her level of involvement with that congregation is reflected in Jan's claim to be from Elyria, Ohio. In Tucson, the family was active in First Christian Church. Upon graduation from high school, Jan attended her beloved Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. It was there that she met and fell in love with her partner and husband, Ralph E. Stone. They were married on June 2, 1953 and continued their adventurous partnership until his death in 2012.

After graduation from TCU in 1950 with a B.A. in Religion and Psychology, Jan attended Brite Divinity School (then Brite College of the Bible) where Ralph was also a student. She graduated with a Master's of Religious Education in 1953 and was ordained by Frist Christian Church, Tucson, in 1954. Jan worked in various positions at TCU from 1947-1955. From 1955-1959, she worked for the Texas Board of Christian Churches (now the Southwest Region of the Christian Church). From 1959-1960, she and Ralph lived in New York City while he completed a Master's Degree. She worked for the Reformed Church in America and took classes at Union Theological Seminary. They returned to Fort Worth in 1960 when Ralph resumed his ministry at University Christian Church and she re-joined the staff of TCU as the first Administrative Assistant for the newly formed Honors Program, a position she would hold until 1976. During November 1968, friends gifted Jan and Ralph with their first international travel experience, one that would deeply impact their future work for peace, justice, racial and economic equality. The impact of their time in Greece, Ethiopia and Congo (then Zaire) was evident by the cultural artifacts in their home and their increasing involvement in movements for peace, justice and equality. In 1976, a move to Dallas, Texas brought Jan to Juliette Fowler Homes (now Fowler Christian Communities). During her time as Secretary, then Assistant, to the Executive Director, Jan completed the 200 Hours Administrator's Course in Austin, Texas, becoming a licensed Nursing Home Administrator and was the first Director of Fowler Christian Apartments. She held that position until her retirement in 1991.Retirement brought a move to Jemez Springs, New Mexico. The mountains of northern New Mexico brought opportunities for new adventures and new friends. During the first years there, when year-round residence wasn't possible, they spent winters in Missouri with Ralph's mother, sister, nieces and nephews.

Jan's church and community involvement included volunteer work with CROP, Bread for the World, Greater Dallas Community of Churches, Dallas Area Association of Christian Churches (now the North Texas Area), Northway Christian Church, the Southwest Region of the Christian Church, IMPACT and efforts toward Christian unity, including serving as a voting delegate to the Consultation on Church Union. She also volunteered with the Mesa Prieta Petroglyphs Project and the New Mexico Site Steward organization. She supported a wide range of charitable organizations reflecting her concerns for the environment, racial and economic justice, and Christian unity. She was a long-time supporter of the Disciples Peace Fellowship, seeing its mission as critical to achieving her own vision of a world at peace. She was an avid sailor, camper, hiker, cyclist, swimmer and traveler. She was a lover of classical music, live theater and opera. She had season tickets to the Santa Fe Opera for over 20 years and frequently attended HD broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera in Santa Fe. Travels included numerous cruises on Star Clippers ships, taking her to destinations in the Caribbean, Panama, Costa Rica, Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Montenegro, Malta and Morocco as well as time in England and Italy visiting friends. But most of all, Jan enjoyed time with friends. Happy hours on the deck of her cabin in the Jemez Mountains were community events that included whoever might be passing through. The steady stream of phone calls and emails during her final days is a tribute to a life well lived and a natural, powerful, life-changing radical hospitality.

Team Jan (Brent Bonwell, Kathy Bouchard and Roger Wedell) is grateful to Presbyterian Hospice of Santa Fe for their compassionate care and support. In keeping with Jan's wishes, no formal memorial service will be held. Plans for gatherings of friends in New Mexico and in Dallas/Fort Worth are pending.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Jan Riddle Stone Fund for Disciples Peace Fellowship at Christian Church Foundation

(christianchurchfoundation.org)

or the charity of your choice.