Samuel Marion Stone IV
July 21, 1941 - June 6, 2025
Wilmington, North Carolina - Born July 21, 1941, in Charleston, WV to Samuel Marion Stone, III and Harriett Campbell Peters Stone, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Marion Stone, IV died at on June 6, 2025 in Wilmington after enduring a lengthy Alzheimer's and vascular dementia diagnosis.
As a child, Sam enjoyed learning about gardening and farming, working alongside his many cousins on both the Stone and the Peters' sides. His grandfather, Sam II, descended from English migrants who valued education, he grew up on large farms in south-central Virginia, graduated from medical school at UVA, served as a physician for coal miners and their families, and helped establish Charleston General Hospital. His mother Harriett's Scotch-Irish family settled on the edge of Peters Mountain in Union, West Virginia where her father, Samuel Clark Peters, owned and managed a large cattle farm, raising a family of seven children with Roberta Grace (Bertie) Campbell Peters.
With this heritage, Sam was always focused on education, starting with his choice to attend Greenbrier Military School (1956-59), where he graduated as the valedictorian and recipient of the leadership medal. He earned his BA and MDiv at Duke University and his Doctor of Ministry at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1967 and served as a minister in the Presbyteries where he lived, preaching, teaching, and serving on committees and boards of the Presbytery.
He had a varied and challenging career, starting as a chaplain at Colgate University in Hamilton NY, then as the first director of development at the UNC School of the Arts where he served for 20 years, at the NC Museum of Art, and finally dedicating 18 years to start and serve as executive director of Glenaire, the Presbyterian retirement community in Cary, NC, where he retired in 2007.
Sam married his high school sweetheart and fellow Duke alumna, Bonnie Gray Vick in 1963 in Old Stone Church in Lewisburg, WV. They were married for 45 years before her death in 2008. They had two daughters, Clare Fischer Stone Jordan (Winston-Salem) and Sarah Marion Stone Reeves (Raleigh). Clare has three daughters: Katie Gray Jackson (married to Austin Jackson), Harriett "Hattie" Altmann, Sarah Altmann, and a son, Jack Jordan, from her second marriage with Fred Bunch Jordan. Sarah is married to Charles Mercer Reeves, III "Terry". Sam reconnected with Virginia Lockamy, friends from a Duke Chapel project in the Edgemont community of Durham in 1966, and they were married in 2010. They moved to Wilmington in 2016 where they enjoyed a view overlooking the Intercoastal Waterway, local outings, bike rides, kayaking, and travels across the U.S and Europe.
Sam always saw himself as a student, focused largely on theology and history. He especially loved reminiscing about his West Virginia ancestry. He was an active and committed Rotarian in Winston-Salem and in Downtown Raleigh where he was Rotarian of the Year in 2014, in addition to contributing roles on many boards, volunteering and serving in church activities in every stage of life. Some favorites were cooking breakfast for the First Presbyterian Church Early Birds, ringing bells at Christmas for the Salvation Army, writing the 100-year history of the Downtown Raleigh Rotary Club, volunteering on numerous Habitat worksites and various mission trips to Central America, contributing his skills on the board of Capital Towers in downtown Raleigh, and at Poplar Grove Plantation in Wilmington. For all of his life, Sam Stone was known to dutifully and humbly put his faith into action through service.
Sam is predeceased by his parents and his first wife, Bonnie Vick Stone. He leaves behind his devoted wife, Virginia Lockamy Stone, and a loving sister, Alix Stone Berlien, in addition to his two daughters and extended family and friends.
A service of the Witness to the Resurrection will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Raleigh on June 28th at 11 a.m., followed by refreshments with the family at the church.
The family is grateful to the attentive care Sam received while living at Bradley Creek Health Center, especially the Memory Care staff, with a special thanks to Chandler Thigpen, RN, and to Lower Cape Fear LifeCare.
In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes gifts in memory of Samuel M. Stone IV to First Presbyterian Church (112 S Salisbury St, Raleigh, NC 27601) or The Rotary Club of Raleigh (P.O. Box 20807 Raleigh, NC 27619).
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
