Mary Pearsall Stone
Oct 3, 1935 - Jul 27, 2018
On July 27, 2018, Mary Pearsall Stone passed away peacefully with her family by her side in Belmont, CA after bravely battling cancer, COPD, and dementia. Mary was born in Pittsburgh, PA to David E. Pearsall and Flora MacSweyn Pearsall. She grew up in Avon, CT and attended and graduated from Kingswood-Oxford High School. She received her Bachelor’s Degree with honors from Northwestern University where she also achieved her Master’s Degree in Language Pathology.
Mary decided early in life (after seeing the play, “The Miracle Worker”) that she wanted to help children with learning challenges. She moved to California in the late 1950s and began teaching at state run schools for the developmentally disabled. In 1975, she opened The Mary Stone School in San Mateo, CA, a private school specifically created to help those who had learning challenges. As owner, principal, and teacher, she made a positive impact on the lives of many young learners who were dealing with autism, hearing loss, behavioral issues, cerebral palsy, and many other challenges. Mary kept in touch with many of her students for decades. She was invested in their success long after they had reached adulthood.
In 1969, Mary married Charles M. Stone. Including their 7-year courtship, they were each other’s true loves for 52 years. In 1974, Mary and Charles moved from San Francisco to San Mateo County which would be their home for the rest of their lives. They both believed they had found something very close to paradise in each other and this small peninsula they believed was paradise. Mary cared lovingly for Charles until his death on April 15, 2014.
Mary was as close to a selfless human being as is possible. There was always extra room and food at her home for someone who had no place to go for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. There was always a place to stay for someone who needed one. There was always a project to be done at her house if a young family member wanted to earn some money. As her extended family grew, each niece, nephew, great niece/ nephew, and later, grandchild could always count on a birthday card arriving on or before their birthday without fail. She was the glue that held both the Stone and Pearsall families together for decades.
As amazing as she was as a wife, mother, aunt, and teacher, Mary was even more amazing as a grandmother. She doted on her granddaughters and bragged about their educational, musical, and sports achievements to anyone who would listen.
Mary is survived by her sister Martha A. Pearsall (El Sobrante,) brother, Donald Pearsall (Hudson, FL,) son, Charles P. Stone, daughterin-law Jessica Stone, and granddaughters, Sophia and Sara Stone (Belmont, CA,) nieces and nephews Jennifer Sostilio (Framingham, MA,) Brenda Pearsall (Spring Hill, FL,) Norman Stone (San Francisco, CA,) Sandra Cianci (South San Francisco, CA,) and David Stone (Brisbane, CA,) and great nieces and nephews, Michael Cianci Erica Cianci, Monica Cianci, Vince Cianci, Jason Stone, Joshua Stone, Chris Stone, Louis Sostilio, Elena Sostilio, and Jane Pearsall.
A celebration of Mary’s life will be held Thursday August 2nd at 1:00 p.m. at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church 1300 5th Ave, Belmont, CA 94002. Donations in her memory can be made to the School-Force Dave Karlin Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 5196, Belmont, CA 94002 or at schoolforce.org.