John Stone

[PopPop]

Jon was among the first people I got to know in racing. Great guy, fond memories. Condolences to his family!

[Brew56]

Very sorry to hear this. This was a true gentleman of the sport who was respected by so many. My condolences to the Furnal and Stone families.

Jerry Brewster

[DJReed]

So sorry to hear..please send details. Nanareed2@comcast.net. The Doug Reeds

[Dew1us]

Here is a link to Jon's obituary:

http://m.legacy.com/obituaries/Democ...8&preview=True

[Steve Bork]

John Stone

My condolences to the family. I met Jon on his NW tours of the Merc Challenge and Region 10 races. He was a great driver and I am still running his West Coast Merc Challenge D Stock Furnal “Silver Bullet”. It’s the oldest D and still running strong due to his great boat building skills.

Steve Bork

[daveracerdsh]

Sad

What a neat person. I send my best wishes to his family....Jon was a fierce competitor on the race course....I remember my first nationals in 1990 at Wakefield....he came up to me and gave me so much advice....He will be missed. See you in heaven Jon. Dave Anderson

[Dave M]

Very Sorry

Very sorry for the loss. Condolences to the family.

[Flyer]

Leigh,

It would be an honor if you would read this for me.

Thank you my friend,

Ted



It is with a very heavy heart that I learned of the passing of Jon Stone yesterday from my old dear friend Leigh Furnell.

We dueled in CSH & DSH from around 1962 to 1985 in days when New York (Region 2) was the hotbed of racing. Although we raced against several greats of those days we were the new kids in the early days and in a way grew up together and against each other in racing. We had a lot of very hot battles and we both learned from the beginning that you never backed off period, especially in the first turn. This was the law of hard driving including the sponson to sponson racing and many roostertail baths that made these duels so much fun. Jon went on to win his three nationals and I wish I had stayed on longer to make those wins tougher on him.

I will miss you dearly my friend but I promise I will see you again in the first turn.
Now you are with so many racing greats in Heaven.

Rest In Peace Jon
Your friend

Ted Abel
1CE and 7 CE

PS To those surviving racers.. get your heart checked regularly as there are way too many racers with heart conditions. I myself have had two heart attacks and I believe this is caused when our racing adrenilin stops. (as good a theory as any)

Leigh Furnal <flyerboats@gmail.com>


10:48 PM (22 hours ago)

to Ted

Ted, I had Paul Lytle read your letter at the funeral today, it was very well written, and people really appreciated it. I know how upset you were when we talked this morning, and it was a wonderful gesture you sending that heartfelt letter. When I figure out how to do this on the computer, I will send you a copy of what I wrote. Jon's daughter, Shelley, wanted both copies for her. Just wanted to past that on to you. Keep in touch, you are a good friend. Leigh

[Flyer]

We all knew Jon by different names; Jon, Stoney, Stone, Speed, OJ ( for odd Jobs), and for me, PJ – Peter Jon.

I met Jon in 1968 when I started racing boats. At that time, Jon was the best around. I was young, he was my idol – I just couldn’t tell him that.

Over the years we became friends, then best friends, and finally business partners. Jon and I traveled all over the US, South America, and Canada. Wherever we went we had great times which have turned into wonderful memories from boat racing memories to those we had working on movies.

If you ever were around Jon when he was working he was always so neat. When we were building boats and went to work, twenty minutes into the day it looked like I had been there for 10 hours all from all the sawdust I had covering me. Jon, on the other hand would at the end of the day take the air hose, knock off a little sawdust, comb his hair, pat his beard and head off looking like he was ready for a night on the town.

If you don’t know me from my boat racing days you might not know that I had a little anger management issues. Jon was my voice of reason and a calming influence. He was the fric to my frac. In all the years I knew Jon, I only saw him angry once --- it was at me! We were building a boat and Jon had started on it before I got to work. The night before I had told him I didn’t want to put the plywood side on till I took some measurements. Needless to say, I get to work – he had the plywood side all ready on. My anger management failed me. I got on Jon like a nagging wife for not doing what we had talked about the night before, probably a little longer than I should have. Jon grabbed a hold of the side of the plywood and ripped it right off the side of the boat. It scared me so bad, I stepped back with my mouth shut. I had never seen that before. Things were quiet for a short time, I look over, there’s Jon with the piece of plywood quietly putting it back on the boat. Only PJ could have ripped something off in such perfect condition, that he could put it right back on as if nothing had happened, in perfect shape, so was Jon without a hair out of place.

I was lucky to have Jon ask me to be his best man when Sandy and he were married. He loved Sandy, his daughter, Shelley, and his grandchildren.

In closing you’re lucky to have a few best friends in your life. I was really lucky as Jon was one of them, I am really going to miss him.

[Scarlett]

So, it took a while, but I finally found the right way to get it down. If you knew Jon, you'll appreciate what he he taught me. If you didn't know him, read it anyways. You'll understand why we all loved him. Flyer got the first copy.

Everything I Ever Needed to Know, I Learned From Stone
1. (a.)The van stops for gas, tires, and oil. NOTHING ELSE if engine is still running.
(b.) If necessary, pee in a bottle.
2. (a.)Wet, stinky sneakers have no place in tents or vans. They go in the trailer. (b.)My sneakers are really stinky.
3. Rooster tails are beautiful. Especially big ones sweeping into the first turn.
4. Starting a race on the outside, going like a raped ape with your hair on fire, coming all the way from downtown is cool. REALLY COOL.
5. Slamming the door on the field in a quiet, assertive manner is the gentleman’s way. Looking back and grinning at them while you do so is cool. REALLY COOL.
6. (a.)If someone gets in your way and they are in a race boat, go through them.
(b.) If someone gets in your way and they aren’t in a race boat, go around them.
7. Problems are only opportunities to get creative. Creativity isn’t expensive.
8. Complain less and fix more. It is just easier on everyone.
9. If you can’t find or afford what you want, you can always make it.
10. Help anyone in need. It is a great way to make lots of friends.
11. Work hard, play hard. Just know how to separate the two when you need to.
12. The simplest and best formula to win is to start first and steadily improve your position from there. Which is REALLY COOL.
13. You don’t always have to say what you are thinking. A funny look says a lot, too.
14. When help is hard to come by, just do it yourself.
15. When life throws you a lousy turn, try again. And work harder when you do.
16. Everyone has value to add to life. Some more, some less. Welcome then and their value, no matter how much.
17. Every man is a teacher. Some teach with words, some teach with actions. The latter are more effective and their lessons are more powerful.

Finally- Be careful not to prejudge a man. That old, haggard, Coors Light swilling, creeper next to you just might turn out to be a god-fearing, bible reading, scripture quoting, missionary who is loved and respected by everyone.

Steve

[Ron Hill]

Wow! John Stone Taught You These Things???

As I read your post, I thought, wow, maybe I really never knew Jon Stone. Some great "WORDS OF WISDOM" here. Many of your points, fits me!

[Scarlett]

Ron-

I watched Stone for 12 or 15 years as I worked in the boat shop when I could and raced with him. He was one of those guys that never set out to teach anyone anything (Except Flyer- He was always trying to teach Leigh patience...) but usually ended up doing so. Many of these little lessons are just realizations that I came to after years of reflections. As I have aged a but, I realized that Jon had a very deep influence on my life. It is one of those deals where you don't realize what was in front of you until much later. Although I didn't see much of him since hanging up my helmet, I still carry a lot of respect for him. A lot of people also have no idea that when he quit racing, Jon had time for other things and used much of this for the good of all about him, in Williamson, NY, and around the world. Like the Stone we all knew at the races, he didn't tend to advertise this. In the end, his actions spoke louder than his words. I guess that is the short verson of what I was saying.

I think many of the points fit a lot of people, especially boat racers. And that is a good thing. I'd be pleased to be friends with anyone that fits the same mold.