Curtis Stone

Curtis Stone of Brooklyn, Pennsylvania and Kent, Ohio passed away peacefully on Friday, July 30 at The KentRidge Senior Living. He was born November 19, 1922, in Brooklyn, Pennsylvania, to Benjamin and Ethel (Palmiter) Stone. He grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Vocational High School as Salutatorian in 1940. During high school he worked on the school newspaper and yearbook and competed in County and District track meets, thus beginning a long career as an athlete, writer, historian, and educator. He enrolled at Penn State University in 1940 where he was a member of the track and cross-country teams. He won his first Intercollegiate IC4A Championship in 1943 before entering military service that year. After attending Finance School, he clerked in the Finance Office of the US Army Air Force 95th Bomb Group near Horham, England for one and a half years. He continued his athletic training while at the base and won the 8th Air Force 1-mile championship and the 3rd Air Division 2-mile Championship.

He returned to Penn State in 1946, graduating with a degree in Journalism in 1947. He continued training with Penn State athletes while in graduate school, as well as working for the Centre Daily Times newspaper. In October 1952 he married Margaret Lewis Stone of Hop Bottom, Pennsylvania. They had one daughter, Sara. He taught History, Civics and English for eight years in Smethport, Pennsylvania, and received a Masters’ degree in Education in 1955.

Curtis was one of the premier distance runners in the United States in the 1940s and 50s and made many tours on athletic teams to Europe and South America. He won 14 National Amateur Athletic Union Championships in various races including 3 miles, 5000 meters, 3000 meters steeplechase, 6 miles, 10,000 meters and Cross-Country. He won two gold medals in the Pan American Games for 3000 meters steeplechase and 10,000 meters run. He was a member of the 1948, 1952 and 1956 US Olympic teams, with his best being sixth place in the 5000 meters in the 1948 London Olympics. Curtis was inducted into the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame, the New York Athletic Club Hall of Fame, The Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame, and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame among others.

Curtis received a Doctorate in History and Secondary Education in 1963 from Penn State University, and then taught in the Department of Secondary Education at Kent State University until his retirement in 1985. An amateur musician, he sang in church choirs, the Kent Chorus, the Montrose Harmony Men, and in The Blossom Festival Chorus (the summer chorus of the Cleveland Orchestra), along with Margaret and Sara. He also returned to playing the violin in his retirement.

Curtis became a member of Harford Lodge #445 of the 15th Masonic District in 1950, and later became a 32nd degree Mason. In October of 2019 he was awarded his 70th year membership pin. He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Kent, Ohio, and Montrose, Pennsylvania, and most recently attended the First Universalist Church of Brooklyn, Pennsylvania, his childhood church.

During his retirement in Brooklyn, Pennsylvania, Curtis enjoyed traveling, researching local history, puttering in the barn or workshop, and helping Margaret with her garden. He and Margaret helped found the Brooklyn Historical Society and published three books on local history. He volunteered with track and field officiating in the Mountain View School System and received a Distinguished Alumni award from Mountain View. A life-long Penn State fan, he and Margaret attended almost all Penn State home football games from 1985 until 2008. In 2019 he was one of a number of Penn State Olympians honored at half-time of the Penn State-Michigan game.

Curtis is survived by his daughter Sara (Terry) Miller of Kent, Ohio, step-granddaughters Sonia (Robert) Srichai of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Esther (Bob) Thatcher of Kent, Ohio, five step great-grandchildren, nephews Andrew (Tracey) Stone, Ralph Lewis, and James (Melody) Lewis, nieces Holly Stone and Heather (Todd) Dunkerly, many great-nephews and nieces, and a host of friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, uncle and stepfather Dan B. Stone and his brothers Bryce L. and Dan C. (Judy) Stone.

Services in care of Bissler & Sons Funeral Home and Crematory, 628 West Main Street, Kent, OH 44240.