Luther French Stone of Water Valley, MS, died unexpectedly at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, TN on Friday, December 11, 2015 at the age of 85. He was born February 18, 1930 in Yalobusha County, MS to the late Thomas K and Maggie Moore Stone. Luther enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age seventeen and served all over the world on fifteen different vessels cruising from the Arctic Circle to China and multiple duty stations in the U.S. Four years after joining the Navy he met and married Ann Brasher of Paris, MS on July 22, 1951. They built their family in the Navy with their children being born all over the U.S. After retiring from the Navy as a Chief Petty Officer, he moved to Memphis to raise his family. He worked for many years at the Firestone Rubber Plant until it closed and then opened and operated his own garage in Southaven until he retired from the business world and returned to his first love, his farm in north Calhoun County, MS, where he raised cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats.
Visitation will be held from 1:00 pm until 2:00 pm on Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at Seven Oaks Funeral Home in Water Valley, MS. The funeral services will follow the visitation at 2:00 pm in the Henry Chapel of Seven Oaks. Burial will be in the Paris Cemetery.
Luther is survived by his wife of 64 years, Ann Stone of Banner, MS; two daughters, Yvonne Ware of Germantown, TN and Michele Stone of Southaven, MS; two sons, Thomas R. Stone and Timothy R. Stone both of Southaven, MS; nine grandchildren; sixteen great-grandchildren; and his brother, Kerrah L. Stone of Louisville, MS.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by three sisters, Ida Marie Brown, Sarah Elizabeth Martin and Margaret Ann Lantrip; and two brothers, William Leonard Stone and James Thomas Stone.