Charles J. Stone

Preceding him in death were his parents, brother, John and twin sister, Genevieve Stone.

He is survived by his wife, Diane (Lucchesi); daughters, Laurie Stone, Mary Stone (James Hall), Colleen Stone, and Gina (Erik) Socha; and son, Jim (Carmela) Stone; his sister, Ellen (Edward) Sleeman of Ripley; sister-in-law, Martha (Zenner) Stone of the Houghton Canal; his grandchildren, Brad (Angie) LePore, Jamie and Christian Hall, Chris Stone, Shane and Olivia Stone, and Evan and Sam Socha; great-grandchildren Kristen, Elijah and Lily LePore; and many nieces and nephews.

He was born in the middle of a blizzard on January 21, 1938, in Hancock, arriving 15 minutes before his twin sister Gen, a son of the late Cyril and Verona (Manderfield) Stone. He was raised in Houghton and was a proud member of the 1955 Houghton High School Basketball State Championship team.

In 1956, Charlie joined the United States Navy and honorably served aboard the USS Norris, a navy destroyer. His Navy tours allowed him to see most of the world. During the Suez Crisis, he was on patrol south of Turkey. When the Suez Canal was reopened to international traffic, it was so littered with wreckage from the crisis that it took weeks of clean up before larger ships could navigate the waterway. His was the first ship through the Suez Canal.

After his military service, he arrived in Baltimore, and wed Diane on April 5, 1959. Charlie and Diane raised five children.

He worked as a machine mechanic for Steeltin Can Corp (later U.S. Can) for more than 35 years, retiring as the only “white shirt” supervisor that knew how to fix every machine in the plant. In the 70s, Charlie took a part-time job as a Pinkerton Security guard at Memorial Stadium to be able to watch all of the Baltimore Colts football games for free.

Although Charlie spent the last 63 years in Baltimore, Houghton was always his “home”. Summer vacations were spent driving for two days to visit his Michigan family and friends. Charlie ate his way in and out of the U.P. in his search for the “best tasting pasty.” Although critical of the crust and its contents, he always said the quality of the pasty got better the closer he got to Houghton. Charlie was always happiest when he was “home.”

Charlie enjoyed spending time with his family, working in his garden and watching the birds come to his window bird feeder.

A Memorial Mass was held on Saturday, March 19, 2022, at 12:30 p.m. at St. Isaac Jogues Church, 9215 Old Harford Road, Baltimore, Maryland, 21234.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Down Syndrome Association of Maryland (DSAmd.org/donate), P.O. Box 20127, Baltimore, MD 21286 in honor of Charlie’s grandson, Samuel Socha.