William Robert Stone
William Robert Stone
In act five scene one of Hamlet, William Shakespeare's famous prince Hamlet said to his friend Horatio, "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on is back a thousand times..." I remember reading those words in high school English class thinking that they don't really mean anything to me and I will probably never use them but when I learned of the passing of my cousin William I immediately thought of those words. What Hamlet was saying of his friend Yorick who had passed some time earlier was that he knew him well and that he was a pretty funny guy, and that he had an excellent and vivid imagination and would bend over backwards to help anyone. That was pretty much exactly the way I'm sure everyone remembers William.
I didn't know William nearly as much as probably anyone here but what I did know of him I loved and loved deeply. William was a bright young man who came here to Lusk back in June of 2002 with Tennille and L.D. He very quickly warmed up to our side of the family and was one of our own almost instantly. Which for a young boy at the age of 14 was probably pretty hard moving hundreds upon hundreds of miles away from all his friends, family and familiar surroundings to come to what must have seemed like nearly a ghost town compared to what he knew back in Ferris, Texas. But William was a really fun, lovable kid who always had a smile on his face and just seemed to make friends wherever he went, and within no time at all it was like he had been born here in Lusk. William was never the type of person to have a bad thing to say about anybody either. He was everybody's friend.
At first I wasn't sure what to think of William after hearing some of the stories about his uncle "Punch" who at William's age was pretty wild and crazy. But just the same as L.D. did William proved to me that first impressions aren't always what they seem and soon enough I began to look forward to William being around whenever my sister and her family would come over.
There was one time that my grandpa was putting the roof on the screen room of his house and Harvey, Keith, Eric, and William all did everything they could to get it done just as fast as they could so that grandpa didn't have to be up there on his own doing it. That's just the way William was, he would help anybody do anything and not ask for anything in return and he did it with a smile on his face too.
William was born on February 24th, 1988 to Harvey and Ingrid "Peanut" Stone on the Fort Sill army base in Lawton, Oklahoma where he was raised until moving to Ferris, Texas in 2000. William lived in Ferris with his family until 2002 when L.D. and Tennille went down for Erik's graduation in 2002 and brought William back to Lusk where he lived until his death. William spent most of his teenage years here in Lusk where he became an all-state track star, white letter football player, and wrestling star. He loved fishing, riding horses, hanging out with friends, playing video games, watching movies, especially Japanese animation, and just having fun in general. He was an avid fan of the Dallas Cowboys, Oklahoma Sooners college football team, as well as the University of Texas Longhorns. Which you could almost always catch him with a Longhorn's cap on, usually backwards to hide his scar from neck surgery. His neck nearly cost him his football career, but quickly he was able to have it operated on to fix it and he continued to play football, wrestle, and run track. He was born with a rare condition in his neck that caused his head to only be attached by muscles and ligaments. It was only through a freak accident on the football field that it was even found out that he had the condition and he was determined not to let it stop him.
He was preceded in death by both sets of his paternal great-grandparents, Harvey and Lois Stone & James and Clara Lewis, his maternal grandmother Rose Thomas and an Uncle Wayne Thomas. He is survived by his parents Harvey and Peanut, his sister Amy, his brothers Erik and Keith, his grandparents Larry and Rhonda Stone, Damon and Lottie Lindall, aunts and uncles, L.D. Stone and Tennille Henry, Leroy and Daleene Steiner, Rick and Carla Snyder, Zack Stone, Loretta Stone, Ilse Sims, and Charlie Thomas as well as several cousins and a nephew and lots of friends.
With that I will end this with some poetic words that seem quite fitting for the occasion.
Death is not extinguishing the light: it is putting out the lamp, because the dawn has to come.
The Lusk Herald
June 11, 2008
Search continues for local man at Glendo Lake
William Stone, 20, of Lusk was reported missing in the Muddy Bay area of Glendo reservoir over the weekend. Torrington Dive and Rescue team, Platte County Sheriff's office and Glendo authorities have been searching since daylight Monday morning, June 9, and will continue their search in an attempt to find Stone.
Glendo authorities reported that the lake is currently at 112 percent capacity and flooding many campsites and wooded areas that border the reservoir. Debris and other obstacles have made the search more difficult. A recent press release indicated that at approximately 6 p.m., June 8, Stone and Kyle Hendricks were fishing when their canoe capsized in a flooded, wooded and debris-filled area on the northern edge of the reservoir, according to Glendo State Park Ranger Dennis Cease. Hendricks was in the canoe with Stone and was able to swim to shore. While attempting to swim to shore, Stone said he was cold and tired and would hang onto a nearby tree until Hendricks could summon help. Stone could not be located when Hendricks returned. According to Cease, flotation devices were available, but were not in use at the time of the accident.
As of 3 p.m., Tuesday, searchers had not found Stone and were planning to continue the search until dark with plans to resume the search Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. Glendo State Park Game and Fish personnel are currently investigating the accident. The Lusk Herald has not been able to confirm whether or not Stone's body has been recovered.