David Michael DeBartolo-Stone

A visitation for David will be held Saturday, October 7, 2023 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Jones, Rich & Barnes Funeral Home, 199 Woodford St, Portland, Maine 04103, followed by a memorial service at 4:00 PM. During the service we encourage family, friends, and colleagues to share their thoughts and remembrances of David.

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David was born in Vernon, CT on April 15, 1972. He graduated from Rockville (CT) High School and received a BA in Psychology from Eastern Connecticut State University before earning an Associate Degree in Radiation Therapy from Southern Maine Community College.

David and I, Michelle, were married on October 22, 1993; we would have been married 30 years this month. He is the love of my life and soulmate and his loss is beyond expression.

David is also mourned by his mother Judy, his sister Kathy, her husband Oliver and their children Diana and Trevor with whom he was very close. He was their beloved son, brother, and uncle and they shared in lots of love and laughter.

David is known for his unassuming confidence, acute intelligence, humor, and easygoing personality. He was compassionate, generous in thought and action, and unobtrusive in his desire to help other people.

As a child David was known as “Doctor Dave” by his young friends. It was not uncommon to find him at the kitchen sink tending to friends’ bruised knees or scraped elbows. He cleansed, dried and bandaged the lads and often offered a cookie as they had been brave.

Dave found his vocation in Radiation Oncology at Maine Medical Center (MMC), Portland, ME where he worked as a Radiation Therapist for 12 years. He was dedicated to his patients and friends and colleagues at MMC; his work was a large part of who he was and a significant part of Dave’s life. His colleagues have commented on Dave’s professionalism and his willingness to help in all aspects of patient care and on how much he and his friendship will be missed.

David never did things by half. He left no stone unturned in his pursuit of existing and new interests. Articles were devoured, Wikipedia mined, podcasts listened to, and YouTube videos watched, studied, and re-watched. David loved to watch videos and documentaries about music and musicians, guitars and related tech, European history, art, architecture. David had a knack for finding smart people with quirky personalities talking about interesting things. He also had a knack for finding smart people with quirky personalities talk about mundane things in interesting ways.

David loved to share pieces of his interests with his friends and family. When he wasn’t making people laugh with quotes from movies, TV, the news, etc.… usually with spot on imitations and/or funny voices (e.g. the “crazy chicken”)…., he could be relied upon to amuse and inform us with his vast stores of trivia ready to share at opportune moments – relevant or not.

David had many hobbies and interests. He loved music, especially blues, 70’s classic/hard rock, jazz, and indie/alternative rock. Two of his longtime favorite bands were The Rolling Stones and The Who. His wish to see the Rolling Stones perform live did not come to fruition despite the Stones’ continued years of touring. However, he, his wife Michelle, and dog Lucy enjoyed an afternoon watching the Stones’ sax player, Bobby Keyes, and his band play at Deering Oaks Park in Portland, ME; David commemorated the event with two pictures of Bobby Keyes with Lucy. We also got a shot of Bobby with David.

In addition to listening to music, Dave also loved to play guitar. As a young teenager, his Mom had a large cactus plant and when his friends came to jam in their garage, David would haul the plant out and they became "The Plastic Cactus Band." David continued to spend much of his time jamming, noodling, writing music and experimenting with recording music. He had a great time playing at open mics for a time and even took vocals on “Long Gone from Kentucky.”

David enjoyed school sports, particularly basketball and track and field. At about 15 he heard that the town was attempting to organize an afterschool basketball team for disadvantaged youngsters. They were having difficulty getting coaches, so David immediately responded positively. His mother and father always smiled when a boy of 6 or 7 called to speak to "coach.” He was a great coach and mentor.

He was an avid runner and biker. He spent many evenings and weekends road biking around the Greater Portland area often with his fellow club members and friends from Back Bay Bike on Forest Ave in Portland. Dave trained for the 1999 Mt. Washington Auto Road Hill Climb and made it a little less than half way up before experiencing a “mechanical.” He was disappointed, but finished the race by pushing his bike the rest of the way to the top. We celebrated with a long soak in the tub (for Dave) followed by pizza and cake.

David and I loved to “bike (Dave)/skate (me).” Our favorite haunts were the South Portland Greenbelt, Portland East End path, Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, and the Charter Oak Greenway in CT. I will always have fond memories of our “active” vacation bike/skating in Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket where David was humorously awarded the “Lance Armstrong Award” by our hosts which David graciously accepted, but for whom David was never an admirer. Dave’s favorite rider, which speaks to Dave’s nature, was the Basque rider, Miguel Indurain, the five-time Tour de France winner who was known for his humble nature and calm demeanor… not to mention his 28bpm resting heartrate.

David loved animals- from our own “fam” of dogs and cats to our backyard birds and critters including our ground hog Louie who we found out this past summer was actually a “Louisa.” Our summer vacation this year took us to the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in NY. David fell in love with the area and we spent several serene evenings watching one of their goat herds grazing in one of their meadow-like pastures.

David is survived by his beloved wife, Michelle DeBartolo-Stone of Portland, ME; his mother, Judith Stone, of South Windsor, CT; sister Kathy Priesnitz, her husband Oliver Priesnitz and their children Diana and Trevor Priestnitz of Vernon, CT; his uncle, Walter Vogel of Vernon, CT; cousin Debbie Avery and her husband Ernie Avery of Windham, CT. His cousin Donna Hayduk and her husband Donald Hayduk of Cleveland, Georgia and their children; his cousin Linda Stone and her husband Walter Stone of Kernersville, NC and their children.

David was preceded in death by his father Frederick F. Stone, Jr of Vernon, CT on Jan 7, 2009; his two day old brother Michael Paul Stone on Jul 16, 1966; and his aunt Helen Vogel of Vernon, CT on Apr 4, 2017.

David is also survived by his beloved dogs Kush and Riley and beloved cat, Raz.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Radiation Therapy Fund at Maine Medical Center. The fund provides care to patients battling cancer.

To donate online

http://www.mmc.org/giving

Note: In Memory of David DeBartolo-Stone

Maine Medical Center

Philanthropy Department

22 Bramhall Street

Portland, ME 04102

(207) 662-6669

“Not to yield says it all. The enduring, the surviving, does not stop with age. We may even grow more skillful… as the years pass. So we do not envy youth. We ask no quarter of life. We accept no favors. We are men [and women] following virtue and knowledge.”

-George Sheehan paraphrasing Lord Alfred Tennyson’s Ulysses.

“I inherited [my] calm from my father, who was a farmer. You sow, you wait for good or bad weather, you harvest, but working is something you always need to do.”

-Miguel Indurain

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.jonesrichandbarnes.com for the DeBartolo-Stone family.