June Durden Stone

WEST COLUMBIA - June Durden Stone, 87, died October 5, 2015 at the Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community in West Columbia, South Carolina. A celebration of her life will be held in Still Hopes’ Guignard Mansion, 1 Still Hopes Drive, at 4 p.m., Friday, October 16. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family. Mrs. Stone was born in Savannah, Georgia; grew up in Augusta, Georgia; and attended the University of South Carolina, where she met her first husband, Mart Gary Smith Jr. They had three children: Claudia Smith Brinson and twins Mark Gregory and Mart Gary Smith III. As an Air Force wife, she lived in a dozen locations, including Itazuke and Nagoya, Japan, and Honolulu, Hawaii. While traveling and raising her children she became an accomplished oil painter and watercolorist, an inventive decorator, and an innovative seamstress who designed her own patterns. She worked for several years as a doctor’s office administrator after moving to Agoura, California. She is survived by all three children; grandchildren Kendrick Brinson, Joshua Brinson, Mart Gary Smith IV, Nicholas Smith, Angela Smith, Courtney Smith, and Jamie Smith; and great-grandchildren Rylan Smith, Keegan Smith, Brennan Smith, Aaron Smith, Rexalynn Smith, Paisley Smith, Seth Branum, Caiden Ledet, Addyson Ledet, and Payton Contreras. After the death of her first husband, she married Irving Stone, and they moved to Beverly Hills, Florida, where Mr. Stone predeceased her. She was also predeceased by her parents, Claudia Luke Durden and Junius Roundtree Durden, and her sister, Marylyn Durden Cope. Her family is very grateful for the care and devotion of the Still Hopes staff. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations for cat rescue to the Animal Protection League of South Carolina or any other local no-kill shelter.