Nov. 26, 1936 – March 7, 2022
Sept. 14, 1933 – March 10, 2022
It is an impossible task to summarize two such full and vibrant lives in only a few paragraphs. After a combined 172 years on this planet, David and Barbara leave a legacy of art, intellect, community, strength and wit.
David, the youngest of two boys, was born and raised on the island of Guernsey, where he lived through the WWII German occupation. Barbara grew up by the sea in Redcar as the youngest of three and the only girl. The two met while attending university in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. In 1960, they married and started their family together in Yorkshire. In 1966, David was offered a post doctorate with the University of Alaska, and they moved to Fairbanks with two toddlers in tow and a baby on the way. Despite David’s promise that the move was only for a year, they ended up building a house at the top of what would eventually become Stone Road and Ester, Alaska, became their home for more than 50 years.
Barbara wore many hats throughout her life. She spent time working at UAF’s audio visual department, as a substitute teacher and at the Ester post office. The highlight of Barbara’s career was the time she spent as a counselor in the public school system, where she found her calling working with struggling students.
Barbara had a gift for truly accepting people as they were. She was known for her dry wit and sarcastic sense of humor and was always ready with a quick comeback. Animals and art were constants throughout Barbara’s life. She loved experimenting with different mediums and spent many hours trying out metalsmithing or ceramics or set up by a sunny window at home setting to paper the movement of water and light. The house at the top of the hill was home to a variety of dogs, cats, horses, steer, rabbits, chickens, geese, and ducks over the years and Barbara was well loved by the village dogs for slipping a treat or a table scrap.
David was a respected professor of geophysics at UAF long past his official retirement. He loved teaching and digging into new theories with his graduate students and spent many summers conducting field research in the Brooks Range. He was at the center of the social gatherings for the Earth science community in Fairbanks – hosting annual parties and organizing evenings at the bar. David was defined by his intellectual curiosity and was never happier than when engaged in a thoughtful conversation about any and all topics.
David also loved working with his hands. Their house was an ongoing project throughout their lives and both David and Barbara were always in the middle of a new repair or improvement, many of which involved David’s novel designs. In his later years, David spent time working on vehicles including his 1963 Jaguar XKE which was his pride and joy. In 2013, David was part of a team that drove a 1916 Dodge that he co-owned with the Cameron brothers from Fairbanks to Valdez to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Gibson Auto Line fleet.
More than anything, David and Barbara loved the community they found in Ester. They were a reliable presence on the porch of the Golden Eagle – beer in hand and stories to tell. Their daughters, and later their grandchildren, were truly raised by a village and spent their childhoods bouncing between houses and exploring the outdoors.
David and Barbara are remembered by many and survived by their three daughters, Sue, Tamsin and Karen (Zoltan); grandchildren, Erin (Carson), Dylan, Keegan, Nicola and Danica; and extended family, both biological and those they collected along the way. Their influence on the lives of everyone around them was tremendous and will not be easily forgotten.
A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, June 26, 2022 in Ester. In lieu of flowers, the Stone family asks that you consider making a donation to Alzheimer’s research or a meaningful charity of your choice. Please join us in raising a glass (or two!) to two lives very well lived.
Published by Daily News-Miner on Mar. 20, 2022.
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