David P STONE

STONE, David P,

chief executive officer for several community bank success stories in the Tampa Bay area and equally well-known for his work on community projects, lost a stubborn and ever-optimistic battle with pulmonary fibrosis Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. He was 74, and members of his loving family were at his side.

When David was named Mr. Clearwater in 2001, he was described as having ". . . rolled up his sleeves and given unselfishly of his time, money and talent for the betterment of his fellow man." And he found time to head three Tampa Bay Area banks, a number that increased to six when he stayed on after various mergers left him in charge. But he had an even larger commitment than the ones he made to his professional life and community betterment; nothing was more important than his loved and loving family. His grandchildren called him "Pa Pa Bank," not because of his well-documented generosity but referring to his professional life.

Whether it was a lunch, a business gathering or a chance run-in, "Pa Pa Bank" would find a way to turn the conversation to his grandchildren. The cell phone came out as a visual aid while he recounted the latest academic, citizenship, and athletic achievements of each. That proud soliloquy was usually followed with an update on Debbie, David's wife of 31 years. He liked to report the successes of Debbie Stone Jewelry, the business David helped her set up when she retired after almost 30 years of teaching and administrative duties in the Pinellas County School system.

Love for family began with Ted and Geraldine Stone, the parents who moved 10-year-old David and his sister, Susan Stone Littlejohn, from his native Boston, MA, to Dunedin. Ted, originally in the insurance business, turned a hobby into a profession as the tennis professional at Countryside Country Club, and his mother taught music from their home. David once said, "If they play the violin in Dunedin, they learned from my mother." Long-time friends were always surprised to discover that she had taught David how to play violin, trumpet, and drums. It was the latter than got David into what he said was the first-ever picture of a Dunedin student wearing a kilt. He was snare drummer for the Dunedin Junior High Band when the photo was shot. Dunedin was without a high school then, guiding David into the Clearwater High School class of 1960. Following high school and a four-year stint in the U.S. Air Force, his banking career began.

An uncle offered David a job back in Massachusetts at the New Bedford Morris Plan Bank. By the time four years had passed, he had become a vice president of the bank, but as he said, "I left for the same reason we moved to Florida the first time; I couldn't stand the cold weather." Back in Pinellas County in 1968, he joined the staff of Bank of Clearwater (later became part of First Florida Banks). Seventeen years later, he resigned as executive vice president to help form a brand new Clearwater bank. With the successful fund-raising and regulatory okay, Citizens Bank & Trust opened in Clearwater with David as president & CEO. He oversaw the bank's success and growth through a merger with Pennsylvania-based FNB, and then a spin-off of FNB's Florida properties to Florida National Bank. Each time he was named to oversee the new institution; retiring for the first time in 2004 after directing another merger with Fifth Third Bank, which still operates in the Bay Area. A year later, David was lured out of retirement to help struggling Liberty Bank, a de novo bank (regulatory term for a less than three-year-old institution). Liberty's issues were a lack of administrative leadership and a cease-and-desist order for some of its practices. Well-meaning and dedicated board members recognized the need for Dave's skills and endorsed his ideas and decisions. Within three months, Liberty was showing a monthly profit and the regulatory problems had gone away. As Liberty's president and CEO, David directed its merger in 2008 with U.S. Ameribank, which made him its local executive vice president.

He again retired in 2009, and in 2012, he became a member of the board at NorthStar Bank, Tampa. In 2014, his fellow board members asked him to serve as "interim" president and CEO. "It was supposed to be for two weeks," David said with a smile. "Then it was two months and then two years." The interim appointment became permanent in January, 2015 and lasted until health issues brought about his third retirement in October, 2016. He remained as a member of the NorthStar Board of Directors.

While directing the success of various banks, David was also playing major roles in some the Clearwater's most significant community projects. When Ruth Eckerd Hall was conceived, David was appointed to the steering committee and then spearheaded the formation of a consortium of banks that provided construction financing. In 2001, he became chairman of the public phase of performing arts center's fund-raising campaign for a major renovation and expansion. David also became a major player in fund-raising for the Long Center, and once it was built, he oversaw the transfer of assets from Upper Pinellas Association of Retarded Citizens (UPARC) - another organization he served - to the Long Center, a transfer that facilitated the Center's merger with what later became The ARC Tampa Bay. He also was a director at Mease Health Care during a $26 million expansion and development of a new emergency room at Mease Countryside Hospital. He helped facilitate the merger of Mease and Morton Plant Hospital, a process that he described as being "like we had to compete with our sister" because the U.S. Department of Justice insisted the two major hospitals compete while the merger plans were approved.

David's community activities actually began with that first banking job in New Bedford, where he was vice president of the Jaycees. Through the years, his volunteer work included these organizations, most of which he at one time served as president, chairman or director of: Morton Plant Mease Foundation, ClearPac. Baycare Health System, Golden Triangle Civic Association, Ruth Eckerd Hall and Ruth Eckerd Hall Foundation, Mease Hospitals, Morton Plant Health Care System and Morton Plant Mease Foundation and Morton Plant Primary Care, Mease Health Care System, Ruth Eckerd Hall Foundation, Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce, UPARC and UPARC Foundation, Clearwater Downtown Development Board, Florida Bankers Association, Florida Bankers Educational Foundation, The Clearwater Club, Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Service, The Long Center and Long Center Foundation, Pinellas Economic Development, Pinellas County Arts Council, Leadership Tampa Bay, Pinellas County Property Appraisers Board, Harborview Club, Florida Bar Association's Sixth Judicial Circuit's Grievance Committee, Florida Orchestra, GTE's Community Advisory Board, Jazz Holiday Foundation, J.C. Penney Golf Classic, Clearwater Progress, and Jr. Achievement of Pinellas County. These clubs: Kiwanis clubs in Clearwater, Dunedin and Taughton, MA; Belleair Country Club and Countryside Country Club.

The aforementioned "Mr. Clearwater" award is presented annually by the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce in recognition of community service. Other major service awards earned by David were: City of Clearwater Commendation for outstanding community service (1999), Liberty Bell Award (1999), presented by the Clearwater Bar Association to a non-lawyer (1999) and Anita Bilgore Award (1985) for outstanding service to Girls Clubs of Pinellas County.

And up until his health kept him off the course, he vigorously pursued his golf hobby, never losing his big wind-up and extremely hard swing that once was described as resembling a human corkscrew.

In addition to wife Debbie, David is survived by his daughter, Shannon and son-in-law Benjamin Engle; granddaughters, Addison and Ella Engle; grandson, Trace Engle, all of Ozona; sister, Susan Stone Littlejohn and brother-in-law Charlie Littlejohn, Clearwater; nephew Joseph "Joe" Stone Ware and wife Judith Anne "Judi" of Fort Myers; nephew Jonathan Stone Ware, Orlando; and great-niece Brielle Marie Ware, Fort Myers.

A Memorial Service will be held at 11 am Monday, December 12, at Church of the Ascension, 701 Orange Avenue, Clearwater, FL. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in honor of David to the Morton Plant Mease Foundation. For further information or to express condolences please visit: www.mossfesterdunedin.com