[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5475]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                IN RECOGNITION OF B.W. ``STONEY'' STONE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DUNCAN HUNTER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 29, 2016

  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate the 
life of a pillar of service from our community in East San Diego 
County, Mr. B.W. ``Stoney'' Stone of Santee, who passed away on April 
20, 2016, surrounded by his family and loved ones. We had over 90 years 
with Stoney but, honestly, the selfish side of us wishes we had him a 
bit longer because we knew East County was better with him by our side.
  Born in Mesa, AZ in 1925, Stoney moved to East County with his 
parents as a teen, graduating from Sweetwater High School in 1943. 
Knowing how much service was a part of his character, it is no surprise 
that he immediately joined the Army Air Forces upon graduation, proudly 
serving his nation during World War II from 1943 through 1946. Stoney 
was also a successful businessman, opening Stoney's Rock & Roll Market 
in El Cajon, before moving into the banking industry and becoming 
President of Cajon Valley Bank and eventually retiring from Temecula 
Valley Bank in 2000. By his side throughout this successful career was 
Stoney's beautiful wife of 54 years Bonnie and a large family of five 
children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
  In our community, Stoney was known as ``Mr. East County,'' and this 
was for good reason. Aside from his family, community service was 
Stoney's greatest passion, particularly helping underprivileged 
children. Stoney founded the East County Toy and Food Drive, which has 
been helping kids for the past 41 years and has become East County's 
largest Holiday charity collection event, assisting over 20,000 
families and 50,000 children. In fact, the drive became so successful 
that, 14 years ago, Stoney asked the Salvation Army to come in and help 
organize the thousands of toy donations to ensure that they reached 
those in need. Eventually this event would be taken over by another 
great service leader in our community, the Viejas Band of Mission 
Indians, who have proudly carried on Stoney's legacy.
  Aside from the Toy and Food Drive, Stoney was instrumental in helping 
the El Cajon Police Department with their D.A.R.E. program, which would 
eventually evolve into its own program named Stoney's Kids. This 
program has raised over $800,000 since 1991 to assist underprivileged 
kids throughout the year in providing youth programs, summer camp, 
sport equipment, music instruments, exercise equipment for the 
disabled, and playground build-outs. As if this was not enough, Stoney 
was also involved with the Mother Goose Parade, the American Red Cross, 
and the Lion's Club, always serving with his personal motto, ``It's All 
About the Kids.''
  In our community we like to say that ``East County is a special place 
to live.'' The fact of the matter is that it's the people that make it 
special and there was no greater example of this than Stoney Stone. As 
the Congressman whose district has included East County for many years, 
I am proud to have had the privilege of knowing Stoney and learning 
from his commitment to service. And while we will miss him greatly, we 
are left with Stoney's example and legacy that challenges us to do 
more. Thank you Stoney, for everything.

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