If you had to pick one word to describe Ted Stone’s life prior to retirement, it would be an easy choice: busy.
Stone, who turns 89 on May 7, over the years has been a member of more than 20 different organizations of various types and held office in close to 10. That does not include panels or task forces to which he was appointed throughout his career. Many of them were a result of his position as a Jones County Board of Education member for 33 years, 24 as chairman.
The retired commercial tire salesman didn’t start in Jones County, however. He was born in 1936 in Jasper County and lived in the community known as Prospect, about 13 miles north of Monticello.
“My dad was a carpenter before electricity,” he shared in an interview last week. “Can you imagine going to build something without electricity?”
“We had a grocery store; it was a rolling store,” Stone recalled. “It came once a week. And, we got our news from the mailman when he came. Our nearest neighbor was a mile and a half away.”
The Stones had no automobile early in his life.
“I think we got a ’36 Chevrolet sedan, and I was probably 8 or 9 years old.”
Prior to that, the choices were limited.
“We had a horse and wagon, and we had a buggy,” Stone said. “That’s the way we traveled. If you wanted to go to Monticello, you went in the wagon. That was a long time ago,” he added.
Stone’s mother and stepfather moved to Macon while he was still a teenager, and that is where he met Martha Fountain.
“She was the first person I met when we moved to Macon from Monticello,” he recalled. “I met her at First Street Methodist Church. We met when we were 16, got married at 20. We’ve been married 68 years, 69 in June. And,” he added with a chuckle, “we still like each other. We’ve been very fortunate to be able to stay together this long and stay at home.”
The Stones moved to Jones County in 1967 and still live in the same house on Joycliff Road.
“It was a dirt road right past the house when we moved in, and now it is a highway. Traffic is terrible.”
The Stones, active members of Clinton Methodist Church, have two children, Dianna Blizzard, 67, retired principal, and Coleman Stone, who does systems analysis for a computer company. They have one granddaughter, Brandy Round, and two great-granddaughters, Jalyn and Jayda Round.
While still a teen, Stone decided to join the military but never saw active duty.
“I joined the Navy in 1953 when the Korean War ended, and they said they didn’t need us. They stuck us in the Reserves.”
He received an Honorable Discharge after eight years of service.
Stone said he began working with Goodyear Tire and Rubber at about the same time.
“I went on the road in 1960, and I had the entire southeast as my territory if I needed it, but I worked Georgia, the top of Florida, a little bit of Alabama. Mostly Georgia. I had a lot of windshield time,” he chuckled.
“I worked with truckers and contractors, mines and companies like that,” he explained. “And most of the time I got home at night, but I stayed on the road some.
“I retired at age 59 1/2 after 42 years with them,” he said.
Stone’s resume shows he was the top salesman in the country five times.
The retiree said his time in the military reserves led him to his work with the American Legion organization. Active with American Legion Post 142 in Gray, he is the Adjutant, similar to a secretary.
“I do the work. Russell Curry is the boss,” Stone smiled, adding that there are 63 paid members now.
“We earn our money through fundraisers here in the county, and what we earn, we pass on to people in need. We give to the veterans in the Milledgeville hospital” as well as other outlets for veterans, he noted.
One project that consumed a lot of Stone’s time and effort in the 1970s was recreation.
“Three of us started the Jones County Recreation Commission,” he pointed out. “Charles Jiles, Billy McDaniel, and myself. We had 22 teams playing softball at the schools, as well as some baseball. There would be nights we would be playing at midnight. We decided we had to do something.”
Stone said the county bought a piece of land, some local contractors helped grade the property, and numerous volunteers helped get the site ready.
“We put our (recreation) commission together. We drew up our plans and finally got it built.”
Stone said the original complex featured four multipurpose fields, concession stand, and a building for indoor activities.
Jones County eventually got involved, he declared.
“After we got it built, the county took it over. We didn’t have any problem with that; it was time for that to happen. It needed to grow further than us.”
Stone said he was actually at the facility when his life changed drastically.
“I was working one day at the recreation complex, and (School Superintendent) Lint Jordan walked up. I’ve been knowing him all my life, and he said, ‘Ted, I need a favor.’ I said, ‘Okay, what do you need?’ He said, ‘Well, I’ve lost a member on the board of education, and I need you to fill in.’
“I said, ‘board of what?’” Stone laughed. “I said, ‘yeah, I’ll fill in.’ 33 years later I got off the board.”
He served from 1977 until July of 2010. There were needs then, he recalled.
“I remember when the high school was in the old school building. We had 1,500 kids in that building.”
Planning was initiated to remedy problems.
What is now Jones County High was the first of many projects completed while Stone was in office. Those included every school in existence now except Gray Station Middle School, which was started before he stepped down. Maggie Califf was transformed into a ninthgrade academy while he was on the board.
“The best thing that happened to school funding was our sales tax situation,” Stone declared, “which you could pay off in five years, rather than having a bond. That was good for the county and saved us a lot of money.”
The former chairman witnessed a significant population change but not much in the source of revenue.
“When I started with them, we had 1,500 kids in the program, and when I retired, we had almost 6,000,” he pointed out. “We went through a tremendous growth rate; we grew faster than the budget did.
“All the taxes would come from rooftops,” Stone lamented. “We didn’t have the industry to do it, and we were running the biggest business in the county.”
Stone is appreciative of his district board members.
“I was very fortunate to have a great school board. We worked together real well without any big conflicts and got along good. And,” Stone added, “I think we did a good job for the county with them for years. I enjoyed working with them.”
Stone represented Jones County and the State of Georgia while in office. He was on the Board of Directors for the Georgia School Board Association (GSBA) and was President in 199798. He was GSBA District 12 Director 21 years.
Not all of Stone’s time was spent on schools or tires, however.
In addition to the American Legion activities, one of his pastimes was the Macon Motorboat Club, of which he is still a member, though inactive. He was the commodore of the non-profit organization eight years and recalls one particular adventure.
“We went down the Ocmulgee River with 72 boats one time,” He laughed. “You think that wasn’t a chore? We put in Macon and went all the way to the coast. We stayed on the river three days.”
Stone explained that the club has moved its headquarters from Macon.
“We’ve got 36 acres on Lake Sinclair across from the dam we lease from Georgia Power,” he said. “There’s 36 campground lots over there. You can stay two weeks and have to be gone.”
Stone said at one point there were 140 members, both men and women, and he estimated there are 60-70 active now.
“We did a lot of good work. We gave parties for the nursing homes, parties for the handicapped. Once a year we held a party with food and music, with the Ark of Macon group.”
Stone said that, as a veteran, he will be taking a special trip at the end of April.
“I’ve been chosen to go to Washington on a flight. We will spend a day there. It’s on a flight out of Warner Robins, and they go six times a year.
“They take a load up and spend a day in Washington,” he explained, “go to all of the memorials. They will fly up in the morning and fly us back that night. It doesn’t cost the veteran anything.”
Reflecting on his career as a public servant, Stone said he knew when it was time to step down.
“Our board did a great job,” he offered. “But when I decided to retire, I told my wife we have got good grades, the best grades in the region. We have some money in the bank. No one has been laid off. Our school buses are practically new. All our schools are new. Time to go.”
