Wayne Benny Stone

Published 9:58 am Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Wayne Benny Stone

July 20, 1932 – September 26, 2024

Wayne Benny Stone, Air Force Staff Sergeant, Bricklayer, contractor, co-owner of Oil Stop, devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great lover of sagebrush, died with his family by his side on September 26, 2024. He was 92 years old.

Born in Pilgrim’s Rest, Arkansas on July 20, 1932, to Benjamin and Berdie Stone, Wayne was the youngest of 10 children. As a young boy, Wayne hunted rabbits and birds, and worked the fields, picking cotton and fruit with his older family members, as they traveled West, seeking relief from the hardships of the great depression. They worked their way to California, and then North to La Grande, Oregon, where they finally settled. As a young man, Wayne joined the Air Force where he quickly climbed to the rank of Staff Sergeant. In 1954 he completed the Air Force’s survival training program, enduring long treks through the Idaho wilderness and a 118-mile rafting trip down the Salmon River. Even as an old man, his upright posture, neatly made bed, and organized sock drawers attested to the lasting influence of his time in the military.

While in the Air Force, Wayne fell in love with Sue Ann Cooper. Deciding he couldn’t be away from his sweetheart for the holidays, he once hitchhiked across the United States to Portland, Oregon to spend Christmas with her. They married on December 27, 1953, and quickly started a family, raising four daughters together. Wayne apprenticed as a bricklayer and eventually became a contractor. He employed crews of workers, building chimneys, houses, churches, schools, and a string of Holiday Inn’s all over the Northwest, deliberately taking jobs in remote locations for the adventure and change of scene.

Always an entrepreneur, he tried his hand at many things. Wayne Stone Concrete Pumping employed one of the first concrete booms in Oregon. He started a lumber yard called Cedartown Lumber. He built an RV park in Talent called Oregon RV Roundup. And finally, in 1988 he partnered with Larry Dahl and moved to California to build Oil Stop, which would go on to become a successful franchise.

Retiring in the mid 90’s Wayne and Sue, affectionately known as Nana and Papa, purchased a farm in the Applegate Valley where they boarded horses and raised hay and cattle. The Stone Family Farm became the cornerstone for their large family of kids, grandkids, and great grandkids, the place everyone would gather for holidays, weddings, and swimming parties. Wayne remained as devoted a husband as there has ever been, and loved Sue until the moment she passed away in late October 2010. Wayne’s kids and grandkids remember him as a hard-working, good-natured, honest man, who gave generously to many people and causes. He had a charming way of befriending strangers instantly and turning friends into family. He was a cowboy at heart, a hunter, fisherman, desert lover, and Christian. He could spin a yarn by the fire, play the harmonica, or pick the guitar while singing old cowboy songs. His handsome smile, soothing voice, good humor and quick wit will be greatly missed.

Wayne is survived by his four daughters – Marcy Cummings, Misty Stone, Michelle Stone, and Angela Stone – 12 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great-granddaughter.