Donald E. Stone

Donald E. “Don” Stone passed away December 14, 2022 in Naples. He was born August 6, 1930 in Malone, NY. He graduated from Franklin Academy and received a B.S. degree in Business Management from the Empire State College, State University of NY.

He married Cathryn “Kay” Dullea on June 5th 1954 in Brasher Falls, NY. She survives along with their four children and their spouses, Jeffrey (Diane) of Waterford, NY; Don, Jr. (Leslie) of Fairfax, VA; Elizabeth “Betsy” (Phil Morrow) of Naples, FL; and Scott (Kristine) of Charlotte, NC. His family was very close and he arranged and sponsored frequent family reunions at various locations.

He was predeceased by his parents, Gertrude and Wilbur Stone, and his sister, Shirley Clark.

Don resided in Quail Creek Estates in Naples with his wife since 1991. He is also survived by 6 granddaughters and 5 great-grandchildren.

An active golfer, he belonged to Quail Creek Country Club. He was a member of the Board and past President of Quail Creek Property Owners Association. He was a graduate of Class III, Greater Naples Leadership Inc. In addition to golf, Don was a life long distance jogger and enjoyed several fitness programs at Quail Creek C.C.

Don was a firm believer in hard work, personal self-discipline, steadfast principals and personal integrity.

Don joined the NY Army National Guard at the age of 17 in 1947. He was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in 1952 and during his 28 years of commissioned service, 17 were spent in command of Company, Battalion and Brigade size units.

He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Ft Leavenworth, KS and the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, PA. In 1979 he was awarded the U.S. Army’s highest non-combat military award “The Legion of Merit”. He retired as a Colonel, Commander of the 209th Field Artillery Brigade, Rochester, NY. He was appointed a Brigadier General in the NY State Retired Reserve. He had a total of 33 years of military service.

He started his banking career as a lender at Farmers National Bank, Malone, NY. After graduating from the American Bankers Associates Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer at the age of 29. He was the youngest bank C.E.O. in NY State in 1959. Prior to being sold, 23 years later, with Don as President and C.E.O., the Farmers Bank with 10 offices in 3 counties was the largest independent bank in the area. The bank ultimately became KeyCorp, Albany, NY and Don was appointed KeyCorp Chief Banking Officer with responsibility for external growth through acquisitions. During his 5-year tenure at KeyCorp, he was responsible for the purchase of 16 banks and bank holding companies in the states of Alaska, Oregon, Maine, New York and Washington. Don retired from KeyCorp in 1985 and accepted an appointment of Chairman, President and C.E.O. of NBT Bancorp at Norwich, NY.

During his 5-year tenure at NBT, the company nearly doubled its assets, capital and earnings. At retirement from NBT, the NY State Senate adopted “Legislative Resolution # 2070,” dated December 13, 1990, in which it honored Don’s contributions to NBT Bancorp during his 5-year tenure.

He also served as Chairman of the Upstate NY Small Business Administration Advisory Council for 10 years and was a member at-large of the National S.B.A. Advisory Council.

He was appointed by the Comptroller of the Currency to serve on the Second National Banking District Regional Committee on Banking Policies and Procedures.

He served as Chairman of the NY Business Development Corp (NYBDC) for 8 years. During his tenure as Chairman of the NYBDC, he was appointed by NY Gov. Mario Cuomo to chair a joint Executive/Legislative Task Force to develop recommendations for an expanded role of NYBDC to include borrowing opportunities for minority and women owned small businesses. The Task Force recommendations resulted in Gov. Cuomo’s first business development legislation. The law provided for NYBDC to access the NYS Retirement Funds in the amount of $200 million dollars for small business loans. Over the last 35 years that lending program has been an outstanding success by creating thousands of minority jobs through New York State small businesses.

Don was recruited out of retirement in 1992 to become President and C.E.O. of WM Bancorp in Western Maryland. WM was a troubled three bank holding company with two banks in Maryland and one in WV. In two years, with a supportive board, the company returned to profitability and all regulatory commitment letters were withdrawn. He was asked by the Board of Directors to sell the company, which he did, to Keystone Financial of Harrisburg, PA. In 1992 when he joined the company, the common stock was selling at $16 per share. At the time of the sale the market value was $40 per share; a common stock value increase of more the $20 million dollars.

On January 7th, 1994, Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer issued a “Governor’s Citation” honoring the accomplishments of Don for “earning the tremendous respect of the entire Maryland community for his leadership, vision and expertise in connection with the management accomplishments at WM Bancorp”.

Over the course of his career, his Boards of Director services included LeMoyne College Board of Regents, Syracuse, NY; Combined Life Insurance Co of NY, Chicago, IL; Depositors Corp, Augusta, ME; Key Pacific, Seattle, WA; Key Bank of Northern NY, Watertown, NY; The Memorial Hospital and Medical Center, Cumberland, MD; and The Totman Medical Research Trust, Burlington, VT.

Services will be private for the family with a Celebration of Life planned in the near future in Naples, Florida.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.hodgesfhatnaplesmg.com for the Stone family.