Martha Barnes Stone

Born in Big Sandy, Tennessee on November 20, 1952, to George C. Barnes and Minnie H. Barnes, Martha decided early that a small town girl can still make a BIG (Sandy) impact!

She graduated from Big Sandy High School in 1970 and kept on truckin’ (Grateful Dead reference intended!) until earning her PhD at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville in 1977. Along the way, she also picked up a husband—Jim Stone—on September 8, 1973. Both college professors, they built a partnership that lasted 52 years, weathering the highs, lows, and the “what is the density of malachite?” debates with equal devotion.

Martha began her career as a professor at Kansas State University in 1978, before finding her long-term academic home at Colorado State University in Fort Collins in 1989. There she taught food science and food chemistry for over three decades, from 1989 to 2021, inspiring generations of students who probably still hear her voice in their heads every time they cook quinoa (which is fitting, since she actually holds a patent involving quinoa protein extraction—because why wouldn’t she?!?!).

Though she loved nature, Martha avoided heights at all costs—leaving the daredevil antics to her sons. She spent years watching Christopher Mark Stone and the late Steven Jay Stone hurl themselves down mountains and into rapids with the kind of calm that only a mother who truly believes in helmets can muster. Despite her fear of heights, she kept her feet firmly planted in the joys of cooking, sewing, reading, movies, and spending time with her family.

Martha was deeply committed to the Institute of Food Technology community and was a devoted member of the First United Methodist Church in Fort Collins. Whether she was in a classroom, a kitchen, or a church pew, her steady hand and generous heart lifted countless lives.

She is survived by her husband, Jim Stone of Loveland; her son Chris, his wife Adrienne, and their daughter Ariya Margot Stone of Ohio; as well as countless students, colleagues, and friends whose lives were made better by her wisdom and wit. She is preceded in death by her parents, her beloved son Steve, and her equally granddog Santee, who’s probably sitting under her chair wagging happily right now 😊

Martha believed there was nothing more valuable than helping another human being grow. Her life is proof of that truth. She changed lives, one granule of knowledge at a time. Martha was a life-long teacher to all. Sounds like a pretty BIG impact from a smalltown girl to me!

A memorial service to honor Martha's memory will be held at Allnutt Funeral Service - Drake Road Chapel, located at 650 W. Drake Rd., Ft. Collins, CO, 80526. The service will take place on November 20, 2025, at 6:00 pm.