Francis C. “Bill” (Stoney to all of his friends), passed away October 16, 2013.  He was born April 21, 1937 in Erie, Kansas to Vera and Charles Stone.  In 1941, at age four, his family moved from Neosho County, Kansas to Skagit County, Washington. They traveled in a 1930 Chevrolet touring car made into a pickup by cutting the body off behind the front seat. His dad made a box and a canvas cover with side curtains to fasten down if it rained. They took extra car parts, bedding, a few clothes, a few dishes and utensils and a big black iron skillet to cook meals in along the way. There were six children and two adults crammed in to the vehicle, also. Kansas Farmer Dad became a Washington Logger Dad. The family bought a forty acre stump ranch high on a hill on the south side of the Skagit River with a cedar shake house both inside and outside. It was surrounded by woods. That side of the river was only accessible at that time by the hand-wound Faber Ferry. Stoney started working in the logging industry at age sixteen by getting his driver license and driving a log truck on mountainous roads. He worked as a logger and a mill worker for a number of years.

He enlisted in the United States Army on June 23, 1959. He spent thirteen months in North Korea near the thirty seventh parallel. He returned to the United States in December 1960 and received his honorable discharge papers in 1962.

Stoney loved solitude and as a result he manned Forest Service Fire lookout towers alone on several remote peaks in the Cascade Mountains with his dog and his books. He would go for weeks without seeing another human being. It was so remote that his dog kept running away to look for a way home. In later years, Stoney became a soapstone carver and a fine woodworker.  He and his mate, Karen reside in Anacortes.

He leaves behind his loving companion of thirty one years, Karen Mills and her family; step children from earlier marriages; sister, Judy and her husband, Bob Coffell, of Concrete; brother, Jack Stone, of the Tri-Cities; sister, Lavone Newell-Reim and her husband, Dick Reim, of Fir Island; sisters-in-law, Patty Stone, of Kennewick, and Lorraine Stone, of Auburn, and numerous nieces and nephews. He also leaves behind his beloved dog, Whiskey Jack.

Preceding Stoney in death were his parents, Charles and Vera Stone; brothers, Chuck Stone, David Stone, Marion Stone, Robert Stone and sisters, June Stone and Gertrude Stone.

Friends are invited to join the family in “A Celebration of Life” for “Bill”  “Stoney” at 2:00 pm on Saturday, November 9, at the home of Lavone and Dick Reim, 18598 Skagit City Road, Mount Vernon on Fir Island.