Helene Ray Stone

Helene Ray Stone died on December 9, 2023, at St. Mary of the Woods in Avon, Ohio after a courageous battle with cancer.She is survived by her two children, Michael Young Stone (Yuyu Xie) and Kimberly Stone Roberts (James), and by her sister Marilynn Ray (John Slavick) of New York, NY. She is also survived by four grandchildren: Katiana Noel Roberts, Kellen Olivia Roberts, Erin Elizabeth Roberts, and Kalea Lynn Stone. Helene was preceded in death by her devoted husband, the Reverend Ernest L. Stone, and parents Lucian Y. and Helene (nee Bean) Ray.She was born in Washington, D.C. on June 27, 1939, and lived in Lakewood, Ohio until adulthood. She attended Wellesley College for two years, then transferred to Oberlin College, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in French Language and Literature. She briefly taught French in Cleveland Public Schools before entering a lifelong career in social work, which was her passion and true calling.Helene's social work path began with part-time employment at the Chagrin Falls Park Community Center in the late 1960s, when her two children were very young, and continued for the remainder of her lifetime. After moving to Lorain County in 1971, she began working at Neighborhood House in Lorain, where she remained for 27 years, serving many of those years as Associate Director. During her tenure at Neighborhood House, she supervised multiple programs serving the low-income and aging population in Lorain County and simultaneously pursued a master's degree in social work at Case Western Reserve University, which she completed in 1989. Helene "retired" from Neighborhood House in 2001 at age 62, but instead of pursuing more typical retirement activities, she began the second half of her social work career, which included serving for 22 years as the Kinship Navigator of Lorain County, and concurrently teaching social work as an adjunct faculty member at Lorain County Community College through 2020. Throughout her career, she was an active member of a wide range of Boards and Committees including the Western Reserve Association of the United Church of Christ, the Center for Lifelong Learning at Lorain County Community College, Lorain Community Music Theater and numerous volunteer positions on boards and committees serving the needs of Lorain and surrounding counties.In 2005, Helene was selected by then Congressman Sherrod Brown to Represent the 13th District at the White House Conference on Aging.She was a former President and an Honorary Lifetime Trustee for the Board of the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging. Most importantly Helene was forever a devoted, loving mother, grandmother, sister, and friend.Memorial Donations may be given to the Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Ohio (ocao.org) or OutRun Ovarian Cancer (oroc.org).Friends may call at Busch Funeral Home 163 Avon-Belden Rd., Avon Lake, Tuesday, December 19th from 10 am - 12 noon. The service will immediately follow at the Funeral home at 12:00 pm. Interment will follow at Lakewood Park Cemetery, Rocky River. The Reverend Kelly Brill will officiate. www.buschcares.com 440.933.3202