Emily Michaela Stone breathed her first breath in heaven on Sunday, January 20, 2019.
Emily’s gentle presence in our lives for twenty-four years, leaves those who love her with a profound testimony of what it means to be meek and mild. Emily’s life was a daily battlefield of complicated medical challenges surrounded by a village of loving caregivers.
Emily was champion yawner, had the softest hands on the planet and beautiful, long hair. As a child, Lois More kept her everyday while her parents worked. She graduated with honors at Speedway Toddler Daycare, attended Sutton Elementary with her big brothers Ben and Will, and received a diploma from Owensboro High School. Later Emily was part of the families at Home of the Innocents and, for the past 12 years, Wendell Foster’s Campus.
Emily is survived by an amazing team of brothers (Benjamin, William, Tipton, and Jordan) who love her well and have had her back at every stage of life. Emily is also survived by her father Michael Stone and her mother Cherri (Ted) Lolley, a champion for the rights of persons with disabilities, who never wavered in her advocacy for the best medical care for Emily.
Covered always by the love and prayers of her grandmothers, Nene and Gogo, a multitude of aunts, uncles, cousins, and an extended community of people, Emily taught us about the power of powerlessness. She was a queen of meekness who is now embraced by the welcoming arms of Grandaddy and Baba, her grandfathers in heaven. We love you Emily. Your life mattered. You changed our world.
Visitation is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at the Third Baptist Church atrium, 527 Allen Street, Owensboro, KY. Celebration of Emily’s life with friends, staff and residents of Wendell Foster Center will be at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 27, 2019 at Wendell Foster Center’s Young Building, 815 Triplett Street, Owensboro.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to Wendell Foster’s Campus at wendellfoster.org/donate or Girls Inc. at girlsincowensboro.org, so that others can live beautiful love-filled lives.