Richard Mansfield Stormont

Richard M. (Dick) Stormont, 87, of Atlanta died early Monday morning on September 4, 2023 at his home in Peachtree Hills Place. Dick was born in Chicago, IL, to Mildred Milligan Stormont and Daniel Lytle Stormont. He summered in Door County, Wisconsin, where he gained an avid love of the lake and began sailing at a young age. Dick attended Evanston Township High School, then Cornell University where he returned to the water by rowing on the Crew team that missed going to the Olympics by one-tenth of a second in the qualifying race. Following his graduation from Cornell, Dick enlisted in the Navy and attended Officer Candidate School in Athens, GA. It was there that he met his future wife, Louellen Walters Stormont when he and a friend walked into the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house and yelled up the stairs, “Anybody want a date?” Dick and Lou were eventually married in 1959 and remained together until Lou’s death in April of 2019. After his honorable discharge from the Navy, Dick began his long career with Marriott Hotels early in the company’s history. Dick began as the first Marriott employee in the state of Georgia when he was hired to be the Sales and Marketing Director at what was then the first Marriott in Atlanta on Courtland Avenue (now a Sheraton). Throughout his 20 years with the company, Dick served in numerous capacities as a Marriott executive. During his tenure at Marriott headquarters, he was one of three executives on the original Courtyard brand expansion initiative in the early 1980’s. He eventually became a Marriott franchisee himself when he opened his own hotel development company, The Stormont Companies in 1984. Dedicated to community service, Dick held a number of significant leadership positions in the hospitality and tourism industry, and earned numerous accolades and awards. Those of particular pride included his positions as Director, President and twice Chairman of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau as well as Director, President and Founder of the Georgia Hospitality and Travel Association. Dick was also recognized by the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration as the 2006 Southeastern Hotelier of the Year. An additional honor was bestowed on Dick being inducted as a member of the “Atlanta Hospitality Hall of Fame”. He is the Past President and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Atlanta through June 2009. He is a proud recipient of Rotary’s Ivan Allen award in 2005 and the prestigious Sheffield Award in 2008. In 2010 Dick was awarded the Rotary Club of Atlanta‘s Bert Adams award for outstanding International Service. All the while he was busy being a wonderful husband and father to his wife and three children. Dick was predeceased by his wife of nearly 60 years, Louellen W. Stormont, but leaves behind his BFF of three years, Sally Crumpler Jobe. Dick and Sally have felt so fortunate to find each other at this stage in life. Dick also leaves behind his three children and their families: Stacy (Stormont) and Reid Freeman of Atlanta, and their children Jessica Freeman and Reid Freeman, Jr. along with wife Ashlee (also of Atlanta) and their son, Stephen Reid (Finn) Freeman III, Rich Stormont, Jr. and his wife Lauren, of Atlanta, and their two boys, Leo and Richard M.(Trey) Stormont III, and John F. Stormont and wife Gina of Dalton, GA, and St. John’s Island (U.S. Virgin Islands), and two step-grandsons, Will and Jack Hailey. He also leaves behind seven nieces and nephews and their families. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Shepherd Spinal Center in Atlanta, GA, at Give.Shepherd.Org. A memorial service will be held at Peachtree Church (Roswell Road) at 11 AM on Wednesday, September 13th, in the Kellett Chapel with a reception following in the Seminar Room of the Kellett Chapel. The interment will be a family-only event.