Harriet (Ree) M. Stone

Harriet (Ree) M. Stone, 93, of Overland Park, KS, passed away on Tuesday evening, surrounded by family. Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, February 8, 2015 at St. Michael and All Angels Church, 6630 Nall Avenue, Mission, KS. Private burial of her ashes will take place in the Church Memorial Garden.

Ree was born in Tacoma, Washington on July 30th, 1921. She was the daughter of Harold and Alma (Tuell) Maddock. Ree received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Washington. She then taught nursing at Skidmore College in New York after graduation. She was one of many nurses in her family, including her grandmother, mother, one of her aunts, and her youngest daughter. She met Dean P. Stone in Washington State in May 1951. They married on September 1st, 1951 in Seattle, WA.

Dean and Ree moved around the country with their four children as Dean pursued his first career in engineering. They lived in Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Southern and Northern California, Utah, and finally Kansas, moving here in September of 1978. With her children grown, she returned to pediatric nursing in 1979. She worked at Shawnee Mission Medical Center until her retirement in 1984. She learned to weave and was a member of the Weaver’s Guild, particularly enjoying the creation of geometric patterns in her favorite color, blue. She was an active member of St. Michael and All Angels Church, serving on the Altar Guild, writing notes to parish members as a part of the Pastoral Care Ministry, and baking bread for new members.

Dean and Ree raised their children camping up and down the Pacific Coast in the summers and continued to camp with family into their 80’s. She loved gardening and birds. Her gardens were a riot of flowers, to attract butterflies and birds. She read fiction and poetry. She spoiled countless cats, dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits, and grandchildren. She enjoyed visiting the Overland Park Arboretum, Deanna Rose Farmstead, Powell Gardens, and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Most of all, she and Dean loved each other.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, Dean Stone, and her brothers Bill and Hal. She is survived by her brother, the Hon. James I. Maddock; and her children: Ms. Susan Stone, La Mesa, CA; Prof. William Dean Stone, Socorro, NM; the Hon. Andrew Stone and his wife Debbie of Salt Lake City, UT, and Mrs. Jennifer Allen and her husband David of Overland Park, KS. She also leaves her grandchildren: Elisabeth, Peter, David, Kathleen, and Lucy Stone; and Matthew and Olivia Allen.