Walker Strickland Stone

Walker Strickland Stone August 13, 1935 ??? September 16, 2016 Walker Strickland Stone passed away peacefully on Friday, September 16, 2016 in Durham North Carolina with his family by his side. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. Walker was born August 13, 1935 in Morrisville, NC to S. Walker and Sarah Stone. Living in Durham since 1940, he was a member of the Durham High School Class of 1953 and attended the Uneersity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served in the Uneed States Army Reserves. He was a devoted member of Grace Baptist Church where he served as Treasurer and Chairman of the Board of Deacons. He was a member of Durham Masonic Lodge #352 A.F.&A.M, Amran Shriners Temple, Durham Sales & Marketineexecutives Association, Durham Sports Club, Croasdaile Country Club, Durham Central Park Board, Preservation Durham, and served as Chairman of the Board of First Federal Savings & Loan. Like his father and grandfather before him, he had a long and successful career as one of Durham???s well-known Tobacconists. He owned and operated tobacco auction warehouses ineeorgia and most notably, the Liberty Warehouse in Durham, NC, which operated from 1925-1983. During his Tobacconist career, he served as President/Chairman of the Board of both the Bright & Middle Belt Warehouse Associations, the Tobacco History Corporation at Duke Homestead, and a member of several industry associations including the Board of Governor???s Bright Belt Warehouse Association, NC Tobacco Foundation, Durham Tobacco Board of Trade, Georgia-Florida Warehouse Association, and the U.S.D.A. Flue-Cured Tobacco Advisory Commission. He was a generous supporter of the Arts, and in 1999 provided the Durham Arts Council and other local artists with a below-market lease rate for studios at Liberty Warehouse, and assisted with capital costs that made the programs sustainable and available to the public. He was one of the founders of Liberty Arts, and in 2004 received the Durham Arts Council ???Outstanding Service to the Arts by a Small Business??? Award. He was preceded ineeath by his sister Mary Stone Hord and brother, Richard Jeffrey Stone. He is survived by his wife Margaret Smith Stone; sons, Sidney Walker Stone and wife Tara Hall Stone, James Clinton Stone and wife Carroll Hill Stone; grandchildren, Lyndsay Grace Stone, Taylor Watts Stone, and Morganeeal Stone; and sisters, Maggie Belle Stone Sears, Elizabeth Stone Watkins, Ruth Stone Haynes, and Sara Stone Webster. The family will receive friends for a celebration of Walker???s life on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Hall-Wynne Funeral Services, 1113 West Main St., Durham, NC 27701. A funeral service will be held at Grace Baptist Church, 1004 N Mangum St., Durham, NC 27701 at 2 p.m. oneednesday, September 21, 2016. A graveside service will follow at Maplewood Cemetery with Masonic Rites. The Stone family would like to sincerely thank and recognee all of the wonderful caregivers at Duke Regional Hospital and Duke Hospice Hock Family Pavilion for the loving care they gave our father. You are truly special people and we are most grateful. Flowers are acceptable or memorials may be sent to the Duke Homestead Education and History Corporation, 2828 Duke Homestead Road, Durham, NC 27705. The Stone family is under the care of Hall-Wynne Funeral Services. Online condolences: https://www.hallwynne.com/obituaries/durham/