Wilbur F. Stone

Wilbur F. Stone, 94, of Mason City, died Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at the Good Shepherd Health Center. Funeral services will be held 10:30 AM Monday at Trinity Lutheran Church, 213 N. Pennsylvania Avenue with Pastor Kathy Graves officiating. Interment will be in West Bend Cemetery, West Bend, Iowa. Visitation will be from 4:00 to 6:00 PM Sunday at Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 N. Pennsylvania Avenue. Memorials may be directed to Trinity Lutheran Church.

Wilbur Franklin Stone, the youngest of four children, was born May 7, 1914 to John M. and Emma (Lehman) Stone in rural Ottosen, Iowa. He was raised on a farm graduating, from Ottosen High School in 1931.

Wilbur attended the University of Iowa School of Engineering, receiving a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering in February of 1937. He was the first boy from Ottosen High School to attend a four-year college. After graduation, he took a position with General Electric Company in New York doing product testing and on June 9th, 1938, married Blanche Henrikson, who had grown up on a neighboring farm in Ottosen. Wilbur left GE in 1939 to join Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York. During the war years, he was maintenance and construction manager for a top-secret development of proximity anti-aircraft shell fuses for the US Navy. After the war, looking for more challenges and a good place to raise his growing family of three children, Wilbur joined the US Navy Oil Shale Research Project in Rifle, Colorado, advancing to Chief of Engineering and Mechanical Services. In 1955, when activity slowed on that project, he returned to Rochester to work again for Eastman Kodak, where he managed large multi-million dollar construction projects outside the city. In 1964, after four years of night school, Wilbur received an MBA from the University of Rochester.

After a 30-year career with Eastman Kodak, Wilbur retired in April of 1978. Looking for the perfect place to retire, Blanche and Wilbur selected Mason City, where they enjoyed the friendliness of a smaller community life style closer to their rural roots. A few weeks after celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in 1988, Blanche lost her battle with cancer.

While living in Mason City, Wilbur was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church, serving on several boards. His special passion, as reflected in his career, was caring for and maintaining buildings and grounds. He also volunteered at KCMR Radio and Mercy Medical Center North Iowa, using his building and engineering skills whenever he could to bless the community.

Wilbur is survived by a son, Thomas Stone of Columbus, North Dakota; daughters, Margaret (Raymond) Doane of San Diego, California and Helen Marie (Michael) Ernst of Carpinteria, California; and an extended family of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Blanche; brothers, Ray and Albert; sister, Margaret Lindgren; and a child in infancy.

Wilbur will be greatly missed; his strength of character, dependability, and goodness of heart were a comfort and inspiration to all those who knew him well. He faithfully supported his family, his friends, his church, and his community, founding his life upon the truth of Gods Word and the faithfulness of his creator. His legacy will not be forgotten. A good man leaves an inheritance of moral stability and goodness to his childrens children (Proverbs 13.22, Amplified).