December 5, 1943 - March 5, 2025
Ann Riley Stone passed away on March 5, 2025, at the age of 81 years. She died peacefully in her sleep at home in Statesboro, with husband of 59 ½ years, David, at her side.
Ann was born in Florence, SC, on December 5, 1943, to Louis A. and Benie E. Riley. She grew up in Georgetown, SC, graduating from Winyah High School in 1962. She graduated from Columbia College in 1966 with a degree in Elementary Education. She later received an M. Ed. from Georgia Southern.
Ann and David were married on September 4, 1965. They moved to Statesboro in 1968 when David joined the Mathematics Department faculty of Georgia Southern. Three precious daughters followed: Leslie, Melissa and Sarah, and Ann became a wonderful, loving mother.
Ann taught elementary school for twenty-five years, influencing many, many children and becoming friends with numerous teachers and parents. Ann was always active in her church, especially in the Susannah Wesley Circle, in the Weed and Wilt Garden Club, and in the Community Bible Study, where she had many dear friends. Her Coffee Group bffs were like “special sisters” to her.
There was nothing that Ann couldn’t accomplish. She was a carpenter, an artist (in various media) and landscaper and gardener. She designed and redesigned and she painted and wallpapered every room in the house. She was a wonderful cook, seemingly able to produce a delicious meal from nothing in an instant. She was an expert seamstress, creating prom dresses, making curtains, cuffing pants and mending every imaginable article of clothing. She was the family barber and stylist for more than fifty years. And she could fish, baiting her own hook.
Of course Ann organized many field trips for her classes, but she also organized Stone Family Reunions and many extended family vacations. She was Mother Hen for large family Thanksgiving gatherings at her home, directing thousands of details without ever seeming flustered. For fifty-six years, she lovingly managed the life and health of handicapped daughter Leslie.
She liked to travel, especially to see family and friends and on many timeshare trips across the USA. She and her sister Peggy made two trips to Europe and she even managed to get her family to the Bahamas on one especially memorable spring trip.
Her childhood was in coastal South Carolina and she loved the beach. She enjoyed relaxing and entertaining friends and family at her second home condo at Hilton Head (another venue for her decorating skills). Ann was named “Most Courteous” in her Winyah Senior Class yearbook and that was a lifelong trait. She was nice to everybody and believed that everybody should be nice to all. The closest she ever came to a curse word was “Oh, foothead”. She could become fast friends with the passenger in the next seat on an airplane. There was nobody who didn’t like Ann; her favorite title was “Mom”, but she was sometimes referred to as Saint Ann.
Ann was predeceased by her parents, her younger brother, Bert, and all of her aunts and uncles. She is survived by her husband, David, her sister Peggy DeFee (Vernon), her three daughters Margaret Leslie Stone, Melissa Raudebaugh (Dan) and Sarah Brown (Tommy), as well as eight grandchildren David Raudebaugh (Jennifer), Rachel Raudebaugh (Arnold), Rebekah Williams (Anthony), Ross Raudebaugh, Madelyn Raudebaugh, Aidan Brown, Grayson Brown, Riley Brown (always called Riley Beth by “Granny Ann”) and two great grandchildren, Evelyn Rose Raudebaugh and Lucia James Lara. Also by several cousins and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 22, at 2:00 at Pittman Park United Methodist Church. All friends and family are invited to help us celebrate Ann’s life and memory. A visitation will be held in the church parlor immediately after the service.
Remembrances may be made to Pittman Park UMC, 1102 Fair Road, Statesboro, GA 30458.
Friends may sign the online register book at www.joineranderson.com .
Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home & Crematory in Statesboro is in charge of the arrangements.
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