Mrs. Sarah Utley Stone of Grand Valley Lakes in Saulsbury departed this life at the age of 73 years Monday morning, November 19, 2012 at her home.
Mrs. Stone was born in Fayette, Alabama December 9, 1938 and graduated with the class of 1957 at Phillips High School in Birmingham. She received her Associate's degree in Respiratory Therapy from the University of Mississippi School of Health Related Sciences and worked at the University of Mississippi Medical Center as a Certified Respiratory Therapy Technician from 1975 to 1986. She retired from the University of Tennessee Bowld Hospital in 2000. She was a member of Beta Sigma Phi and was formerly active in the Grand Valley Lakes Women's Club. She was an award-winning artist who excelled in the medium of oils. Her paintings Miss Mary's Day Lily Field and a portrait of her son, Billy, were both awarded blue ribbons at the Tennessee State Fair. Mrs. Stone was a member of the Middleton United Methodist Church in Middleton, Tennessee.
Funeral services will be held at 2 pm Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at Shackelford Funeral Directors' Main Chapel in Bolivar with Rev. Gary McDaniel, Rev. Tom Davis and Rev. Barbara Taylor officiating. Interment will follow in Grand Junction Cemetery. Mrs. Stone's grandchildren will serve as pallbearers.
Survivors include her husband of 54 years, Mr. James William "Bill" Stone; three daughters, Barbara Taylor and husband Chris of Brandon, Mississippi, Kelley Stone of Saulsbury and Karen Stackhouse and husband Rusty of Saulsbury; a son, Jonathan Stone of Memphis; a sister, Gail Orazine and husband Danny of Morris, Alabama; nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and a host of nieces and nephews.
She is preceded in death by her son, James William "Billy" Stone, mother, Verna B. King, stepfather, Frank Ira King, and twin sister, Sally Hipsher.
Mrs. Stone's family would like to express a special word of thanks to the wonderful caregivers at Caris Healthcare in Somerville, Tennessee. "Their compassionate, professional care was a tremendous blessing to our entire family through a very long illness."