Obituary: John C. Stone

Houghton Canal                                                        

John C. Stone, 82, a resident of the Houghton Canal, passed away Friday evening, June 22, 2018 at the UP-Health Portage Hospital.

He was born on March 2, 1936, in Hancock, a son of the late Cyril and Verona (Manderfield) Stone.  John was raised in Houghton, attended St. Ignatius Catholic School, and was a graduate of Houghton High School with the Class of 1955.

John was a hard worker his entire life.  He began working at Klee’s Gas Station in Houghton during his high school years.  After high school, he began a career working for Herman Gundlach Construction on Isle Royale where he helped build the Rock Harbor Lodge.  When he returned, he began driving truck for Gundlach and was proud to have poured one quarter of the concrete used to construct the Portage Lake Lift Bridge.

John was then drafted into the US Army (1959-1961) where he served in California, helping perform military honors for the burials of many veterans.

Once he returned to the Copper Country, he resumed driving truck for Herman Gundlach and Copper County Concrete, where he retired in 1994 after 38 years.  During that time, he assisted on many of the buildings on Michigan Tech’s campus and projects all over the Copper Country.  He then began working as a part-time custodian for the church he loved, St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church in Houghton, retiring after 22 years.

On May 28, 1966, he was united in marriage to Martha Zenner.

John was a faithful member of St. Ignatius where he was very active and served as an usher. He was a member of Knights of Columbus Council #13115 of Houghton and Teamsters Local Union #328.  John enjoyed working and helping others fix problems around the church and at their homes.  He was a member of the McDonald’s Coffee Crew meeting two to three times a day.  He also enjoyed mowing his lawn and watching the birds at his home on the canal.  John loved to visit with anyone and was a fountain of knowledge about the history of the Copper County.  John’s family was also very important, and he enjoyed taking the family camping as his young family grew.

Surviving are:

His wife Martha of the Houghton Canal

His children: Julie (Brian) Diercks of Iron Mountain

                               Michael (Amy) Stone of Allegan, MI

His grandchildren: Rebecca (Becky) Diercks, Benjamin Diercks, and Holly Diercks

His brother and sisters:

Charles (Diane) Stone of Baltimore, MD

Genevieve Stone of Houghton

Ellen (Edward) Sleeman of Ripley

His brothers-in-law:

Fred Zenner of Hurontown

Louis Zenner of Houghton

His sister-in-law: Gloria (William “Butch”) Zenner of Liminga

Numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Preceding him in death were his parents, several aunts and uncles, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law George and Mary Lou (Zenner) Reynolds, Barbara Zenner, Robert Zenner, and William “Butch” Zenner.

A Mass of Christian burial for John will be held 11 am Tuesday, June 26, 2018, at St. Ignatius Church with Fr. John Martignon to officiate.  Burial will be in the Forest Hill Cemetery of Houghton.  Friends may call on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, from 10 am until 10:45 am at St. Ignatius.

John’s family would like to thank Fr. John Martignon and his second family at St. Ignatius for being a part of his life.  In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, the family suggests that memorials be given to St. Ignatius in memory of John Stone to be used for a scholarship in his memory.

                To view John’s obituary or to send condolences to the family please visit www.plowefuneralhome.com.  The Memorial Chapel & Plowe Funeral Homes of Houghton have been assisting the family with the arrangements.