Fred William Stone

1926 - 2025

Fred William Stone passed peacefully at home on Aug. 20, 2025, less than a month shy of his 99th birthday. Ever the optimist, Fred attributed his long life to two things: being happy and getting plenty of sleep.

Fred was born on Sept. 12, 1926, in Superior, Wisconsin, to Byron and Dorothy Stone, joining brother Harold as the second of what would be four siblings, when sisters Clare and Jean arrived soon after. He grew up on the Stone family farm, where he established a work ethic and positive attitude that served him throughout his long life. Fred graduated as the salutatorian from Oconto, Wisconsin, on May 25, 1944, with his salutatory speech titled "America's Challenge," appropriate to the wartime context.

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps at seventeen, trained in Mississippi, and prepared to serve his country. Fred was a World War II veteran, stationed in southern France after VE Day. He was an aircraft mechanic and also served as a military police officer.

After being honorably discharged from the Army, Fred obtained his degree in chemical engineering at Michigan Tech University thanks to the GI Bill. This education led to a career with DuPont Chemicals, where he helped develop and produce Delrin plastic. He was very proud that his name was on that patent.

Soon after graduating college, Fred met Beverly through a mutual friend. That introduction would lead to seven decades together as partners in life, in parenting, travel, community service, bridge and bowling, when Fred and Bev married on April 19, 1952. The couple welcomed Wendy and Sarah during Fred's career at DuPont. As the girls reached school age, the family moved to West Concord, Minnesota, where Fred could assist his father with running an agricultural supply business. Son Teddy soon joined the Stone family.

After the family hosted Brazilian exchange students from the Tenorio family in Minnesota, Fred and Beverly maintained lifelong connections to the Tenorios. Fred learned Portuguese, traveled several times to visit them in their home of Maceió, Brazil, where a street was named in his honor (Rua Fred Stone).

In 1977, Fred and Bev relocated to Lake City, on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi's Lake Pepin. They renovated a Victorian home just blocks from the river, and Fred took up sailing on the lake in his sailboat Sereia ("mermaid" in Portuguese). He also earned his pilot's license in 1981. Befitting a former engineer, his logbooks of his time in his beloved V-Tail Bonanza and other aircraft were meticulous.

Upon Bev's retirement from Prudential Mortgage in Frederick, Maryland in 1994 Fred and Bev moved to Naples, Florida. They stayed busy during these golden years - they played golf (noting that greens fees were better in the summer), joined a bowling league, hosted visiting family, and volunteered extensively for the Red Cross, deploying all over the United States as part of the organization's disaster response team. They responded to four of five places per year, spending three weeks per assignment, helping in the wake of hurricanes, tornadoes fires, and other disasters. This work took them to Kansas, Texas, Puerto Rico, North Carolina, and more. They served in New York City after 9/11, when smoke still rose from lower Manhattan.

Although Fred's first ocean voyage was crossing the Atlantic aboard a Liberty ship in 1945, he and Beverly continued to travel the world throughout their seven decades together. They visited Brazil, Turkey, Russia, the Mediterranean, all over the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, Hawaii, the Canadian Maritime Provinces, and more. Fred also made the drive up and down the Alaska Highway many times to visit his Alaskan loved ones, most recently in March 2015, at the age of 88.

After moving back to Fairbanks in 2015 to be closer to Wendy, grandchildren and great grandchildren, Fred and Beverly settled into the Raven Landing community. For a decade, Fred was a regular fixture at bocce, bridge, and Wii Bowling. He maintained a thriving rhubarb patch for Raven Landing, with the produce a highlight of summer meals in the dining room. Up until just weeks before his passing, he delivered the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner to his neighbors around the senior living facility, making him possibly the world's oldest paper boy.

Fred was preceded in death by his siblings Harold, Clare, and Jean, his wife Beverly, and his children Sarah and Teddy. He is survived by his oldest daughter Wendy Anderson (Dan), grandchildren Benjamin Prax, Leanna Williams (Tyler), David Stanton (Samantha), and Emily Anderson (Michael Levison), and great-grandchildren Viktor and Nicholas Prax, Cyrus and Jasper Williams, and Valentina Stanton.

The family wishes to thank his wonderful caregivers Sonia and Chris for their help and kindness. They also would like to thank Hospice of Fairbanks for assistance during Fred's final days.

A memorial service honoring Fred's life will be held Thursday, Aug. 28, at 1 p.m. at Raven Landing. Graveside services will be held in October in Concord, Minnesota, with dates pending. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in Fred's memory to Hospice of Fairbanks. Donations can be made online at fairbankshospitalfoundation.com/support/donate with "Hospice" as the gift designation. In memory of Fred, try to be happy and get plenty of sleep.