USS BENNINGTON
COMMANDING OFFICERS
Commander Lester Jay Stone
From 1946 July 8 to 1946 November 08
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INFORMATION FROM OBITUARY IN GETTYSBURG TIMES
Published in Gettysburg Times from July 20 to July 23, 2012
Captain Lester Jay Stone, U.S. Navy (Ret.), passed away peacefully on July 10, 2012, in Chambersburg, with his family by his side.
Born on July 8, 1911, in Washington state, he was the son of the late Walter and Lottie Stone.
He spent his early years in the West developing an interest in colors, drawing and painting that would serve him in his later life.
Stone attended the United States Naval Academy Preparatory School, San Diego, Calif., and then, in 1930,
was admitted to the United States Naval Academy as a midshipman, graduating in 1934.
He earned his naval aviator "wings" three years later.
Stone witnessed the U.S.S. Shaw explode during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and conversely, he witnessed the Japanese surrender at Kyushu.
He later commanded the Naval Air Facility at Opama to help the Japanese rebuild their air force.
He was awarded The Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Emperor of Japan; an honor rarely afforded a foreigner.
As the executive officer of the carrier Sicily, he saw action in the Korean War.
Stone was also Commander of the Naval Air Station, Memphis, Tenn., and Inspector General of the Navy.
His career in the Navy encompassed 30 years of innovation and contributions to the development of carrier aviation.
The results are still employed by today's Naval, Army, and Air Force pilots. Stone was decorated with the Bronze Star.
Upon retirement, Stone returned to his early interest in art.
He studied under the renowned Italian sculptor, Oscar Gallo, at the Academia Delle Belle Arti, Florence, Italy.
He then spent considerable time in Marbella, Spain, where he concentrated on portraits and local scenes.
Some of his finest work evolved from this period.
The most notable is "The Sea," a painting of the blue Mediterranean.
Among the countless high points of his career as an artist are: first, the acceptance by the Japanese Watercolor Society of his painting of a Japanese shrine on Eno Shima, a small island.
It was the first painting by a foreigner ever selected by the Society; and, second, a portrait of the Shah of Iran commissioned by the shah's first cousin, Khosro Afshar.
Stone's paintings are in many private, public and corporate collections, including the permanent collections of the United States Capitol Rotunda,
the United States Naval Academy, and the United States Department of Defense.
A critic wrote, "This artist is a man of remarkable depth whose paintings depict great sensitivity and understatement."
The American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) News and Journal, in a recent article, wrote, "He is absolutely charming.
The combination of his quiet demeanor with his sparkling intelligence, dry humor and innate humility make a formidable human being indeed."
Stone was a Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists, Salmagundi Club and
National Arts Club in New York, West Coast Watercolor Society, Baltimore Watercolor Society, and the Maryland Federation of Art.
After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1934, he was married to the late Peggy King of Annapolis, Md., with whom he will be buried.
Surviving are his three daughters, Judith King Stone of Sharpsburg, Md., Marguerite Stone Calyer of Malden Bridge, N.Y.,
and Susan Ridgaway Stone of Gettysburg; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. His son, Lester Jay Stone Jr., died in 1989.
INFORMATION FROM
Hagerstown Magazine
P.O. Box 2415
Hagerstown, MD 21741
The Gift of Sight: Lester Jay Stone
Lester Jay Stone’s Artistic Vision Guides His Work and Inspires Others.
by Anne Flentgen Rich
• • •
To say that Lester Jay Stone has seen a lot is an understatement.
Born in 1911, the artist stood near the U.S.S. Shaw when it exploded at Pearl Harbor.
He saw the Japanese surrender at Kyushu. Later, he studied sculpting in Michelangelo’s Italian studio and
painted portraits of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Shah of Iran.
Still, what’s most remarkable about the painter isn’t what he sees or has seen — it’s how he sees.
Artist Becky Dietrich of Mont Alto, Pa., who has studied with Lester since 1975, says, “He taught me to see — not just to look, but to see.
He wants us to think for ourselves.”
Fellow artist Terri Birkhouser says that Lester taught her about perspective and color. “I really learned a tremendous amount from him.”
Learning to See
Lester’s vision to paint came early.
He remembers stealing paper from his older sister’s school when he was a child. “I didn’t understand stealing,” he says.
But from that time on, he drew whatever he could; as soon as he earned money, he bought some paints.
Lester kept painting and drawing while he studied at the Naval Academy, served in the Navy as an engineer,
and retired from the military in 1964 with the rank of captain and Bronze Star medals for performance in combat.
It’s not surprising, then, that much of his work depicts ships — from John Paul Jones’ Bon Homme Richard
and the legendary fishing schooner Bluenose to ordinary oyster boats.
Lester’s paintings reveal his fascination with the sea: “I would sit for hours at the oceanside just looking at the water.”
He also says he’s learned from the works of many European masters through reading and extensive travel. “I studied [art] by myself all day every day.”
His powers of observation came in handy when the Shah of Iran’s cousin, Khosro Afshar, commissioned Lester to paint his famous relative.
As Becky explains, Lester asked for a photograph to reference since he’d never seen the Shah — and some days later, a small snapshot arrived.
It wasn’t the clear likeness Lester had requested, but it had to do.
He built a device to project the photo as an enlargement so he could see the Shah better, and he finished the painting on time.
Working from another photograph, Lester completed a commissioned painting of Eisenhower for the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Fort McNair.
‘Lyrical’ Vision
Ships, the ocean and famous figures aren’t Lester’s only subjects — he’s rendered local sights such as Welty’s Mill Bridge near Waynesboro as well as many a model in paint.
“The Vigil,” one of Lester’s works that hangs on Becky’s wall, shows a Portuguese fisherman’s wife gazing out to sea, awaiting her husband’s return.
In Lester’s room at Luther Ridge Retirement Community in Chambersburg, paintings and drawings of women grace the walls.
A likeness of his wife, Peggy, shows her to be the “lovely, lovely, lovely” woman Lester says she was.
Becky describes Lester’s paintings as “lyrical,” and says that women love to model for him because “he doesn’t recognize a wrinkle.”
His is an eye for beauty that Patti Nitterhouse, a longtime friend and vice president of White Rock, Inc., recognizes as well.
“He is an inspiration, whether he’s painting or observing life,” Patti says. “He sees beauty in everything.”
Encouraging Others to See
Through years of experience and success — Lester’s paintings are part of the permanent collections of the U.S. Capitol,
the U.S. Naval Academy, the Navy Combat Art Collection and the U.S. Defense University — he has helped many fellow artists.
For more than 30 years, most Mondays have found Lester and a small group of students painting together.
Sandy Kirkpatrick, who modeled several times for the artist, hosted Lester and his students at Phaeton Farm in Greencastle more than 10 years ago.
“They’d set up their easels in the morning and hang the paintings on the wall later to critique them,” she says. Patti has also hosted Lester’s group.
“His approach involves observation and encouragement,” she says.
At the same time, “He is still able to stand 10 feet away from a model and tell if your rendition of her is one-eighth of an inch off,” Becky adds.
His eye for detail is paired with an encouraging spirit.
“The artist must spend his life perfecting the procedures for painting everything in nature so perfectly
and with such manual ease,” Lester wrote as early as 1957, “that he need never think of mechanical skills while painting.”
And if someone wants to paint, Lester says, “I just tell him, ‘do it.’ Don’t worry about how to do it.
Just do it. If you do it, you will know how.”
INFORMATION FROM
Tributes.com
online resource for current
local and national obituary news
NAVAL WAR HERO AND RENOWNED ARTIST DIES AT 101
Captain Lester Jay Stone, U.S. Navy (Ret.), passed away peacefully on July 10, 2012, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, with his family by his side.
Born on July 8, 1911, in Washington State, he was the son of the late Walter and Lottie Stone.
He spent his early years in the West developing an interest in colors; drawing and painting that would serve him in his later life.
Stone attended the United States Naval Academy Preparatory School, San Diego, California and then in 1930, was admitted to the United States Naval Academy as a midshipman, graduating in 1934.
He earned his Naval Aviator "wings" three years later.
Stone witnessed the U.S.S. Shaw explode during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and conversely, he witnessed the Japanese surrender at Kyushu.
He later commanded the Naval Air Facility at Opama to help the Japanese rebuild their Air Force.
He was awarded The Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Emperor of Japan; an honor rarely afforded a foreigner.
As the Executive Officer of the carrier Sicily, he saw action in the Korean War.
Stone was also Commander of the Naval Air Station, Memphis, Tennessee, and Inspector General of the Navy.
His career in the Navy culminated thirty years of innovation and contributions to the development of carrier aviation.
The results are still employed by today's Naval, Army, and Air Force pilots.
Stone was decorated with the Bronze Star.
Upon retirement, Stone returned to his early interest in art.
He studied under the renowned Italian sculptor, Oscar Gallo, at the Academia Delle Belle Arti, Florence, Italy.
He then spent considerable time in Marbella, Spain, where he concentrated on portraits and local scenes.
Some of his finest work evolved from this period.
The most notable is "The Sea," a painting of the blue Mediterranean.
Among the countless high points of his career as an artist are: first, the acceptance by the Japanese Watercolor Society of his painting of a Japanese shrine on Eno Shima, a small island.
It was the first painting by a foreigner ever selected by the Society; and, second, a portrait of the Shah of Iran commissioned by his first cousin, Khosro Afshar.
Stone's paintings are in many private, public and corporate collections, including the permanent collections of the United States Capitol Rotunda, the United States Naval Academy, and the United States Department of Defense.
A critic wrote, "This artist is a man of remarkable depth whose paintings depict great sensitivity and understatement."
The American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) News and Journal, in a recent article, wrote, "He is absolutely charming.
The combination of his quiet demeanor with his sparkling intelligence, dry humor and innate humility make a formidable human being indeed."
Stone was a Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists, Salmagundi Club and National Arts Club in New York, West Coast Watercolor Society, Baltimore Watercolor Society, and the Maryland Federation of Art.
After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1934, he was married to the late Peggy King of Annapolis, Maryland, with whom he will be buried.
Surviving are his three daughters, Judith King Stone of Sharpsburg, Maryland; Marguerite Stone Calyer of Malden Bridge, New York; and Susan Ridgaway Stone of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; nine grand-children; and seven great grand-children.
His son Lester Jay Stone, Jr. died in 1989.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 7 P.M., Tuesday, July 24 in in Grove-Bowersox Funeral Home, 50 South Broad Street, Waynesboro where a memorial service will be held at 7:00 P.M.
A graveside service will be held at 11:00 A.M., Wednesday, July 25, 2012 in the United States Naval Academy at Hospital Point overlooking the Severn River where he sailed so often as a midshipman.
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