Joanna Elisabeth Stone

October 14, 2016

Joanna Elisabeth Stone died Friday, October 14, 2016, at her residence.

The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 22, 2016, at St. John’s Episcopal Church with Reverend June Johnson officiating. Interment will follow at Oak City Cemetery with Hal Brannon, Jimmy Dickson, Tom Conger, Johnny Grimsley, Sydney Cochran, Aric Aldridge, Jack Leverett and Steve Poitevint serving as active pallbearers.

The family will receive friends immediately following the graveside service. Online visitors may sign the guest register at

www.iveyfuneral.com. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Joanna E. Stone Scholarship Fund, Bainbridge State College, P.O. Box 990, Bainbridge, GA 39818 or St. John’s Episcopal Church, 516 E. Broughton St., Bainbridge, GA 39817.

Joanna was born April 3,1958, in Bainbridge, Ga., the daughter of James W. and Mary Bower Stone. During her childhood, she attended the Candle of Hope School in Tallahassee, Fla. and classes created for special needs children in Decatur County. For several years she enjoyed competing in the Decatur County Special Olympics program. As an adult, she attended the Decatur-Seminole Service Center.

She enjoyed her daily walk down Douglas Drive with her Daddy, taking rides in the car, and coloring in her coloring books. Joanna was always delighted with a good hamburger with french fries, especially when followed by ice cream.

During her lifetime, she was cherished by her family and nurtured by kind and compassionate doctors, nurses, and caregivers.

Survivors include her sister, Laura Stone Bridges of Bainbridge; her nephews, Tommy H. Bridges, Jr. and his wife, Kristen Shetler Bridges, of Dunwoody, Ga. and James D. Bridges of Atlanta, Ga.; her great-nephews, William Erickson Bridges and Harlin Stone Bridges; and several cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents and her special friend, John Paul Starke.