Local artist Lester Jay Stone celebrates 100th birthday at Luther Ridge – Waynesboro Record

Lester Jay Stone has a way with people. The local artist and naval hero has touched so many lives over the years, and it was evident just how much he is appreciated during his 100th birthday celebration Friday.

Stone was showered with cards, gifts and, most importantly, love as guests filled the dining room at the Inn at Luther Ridge to celebrate the milestone with him.

With a twinkle in his eye, Stone sat and joked with guests, who traveled both near and far, to honor a man they say sees nothing but beauty in the world.

Stone even joked that he hated being 100, but his youngest daughter, Susan Stone of Gettysburg, said that was far from true.

“He loves life,” Susan Stone said. “He enjoys people. He taught us to be people who have good lives. Both of my parents did by the way they lived their lives and how active and interested in people they were.”

His life

Stone was born July 8, 1911, in Washington state. He developed a love of art at a young age and studied it through a 30-year naval career and beyond.

He has seen the devastation of war at the invasion of Pearl Harbor and during the Korean War. He served as a communications officer during World War II, and, according to his oldest daughter, Judy Stone of Sharpsburg, he took some of the early photos of the attack on Pearl Harbor known to many today.

He was a commander of the Naval Air Station in Memphis and inspector general for the Navy. Stone became an aviator after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy.

Stone retired from the Navy as a captain in 1964. After his retirement, he and his late wife, Peggy, spent a year in Florence, Italy, where Stone studied sculpture at the Academia where Michaelangelo himself stood.

His immense attention to detail sparked commissions to paint portraits of well-known, respected individuals, such as former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Shah of Iran. Stone’s artwork is displayed throughout the world, including spots in Waynesboro and Hagerstown. Some of his work belongs to the permanent collection of the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Capitol. He has also instructed numerous students in the area and has painted portraits of many. Some of his favorite paintings are of sailboats and seascapes.

He and hid wife had four children — Judy Stone, Susan Stone, Marge Calyer and the late Lester J. Stone II.

Stone lived in Blue Ridge Summit for 40 years before entering Luther Ridge.

“My biggest impression of him is that he did a lot of things,” grandson Tad Wilkinson of Charlottesville, Va., said. “When he set his mind on something, he would go and do it. Whether it was building his own sailboat or driving around hauling a trailer filled with his art supplies while he was in his 80s.”

Susan Stone said her father expressed interest in everything he did, and he walked 30 minutes a day “no matter what.”

“I asked him what it felt like to be 100 and how he got there,” Susan added. “He said life did it to him. It’s ‘l’chaim,’ or ‘to life.’”

Family man

Judy Stone said her father is the greatest father anyone could ask for.

“He was always there and always expressed interest in what we were doing. He taught me everything I know about painting,” she said.

Susan Stone said her father read to her every night, no matter what big assignment he had.

She said the emperor of Japan once gave her father the Order of the Secret Treasure, the highest honor, after he helped the Japanese rebuild their fleet after the war.

“There is no higher honor. That’s something about who he is,” she said, with a smile.

Calyer of Malden Bridge, N.Y., said her father taught her how to have confidence.

“He always had confidence in me,” she said.

What is Stone’s secret to such a long life?

“He did the things he dreamed of,” Susan Stone said.