Howard E. Stone Jr., age 64, of Colorado Springs, passed away unexpectedly, on July 23rd2019.  Known as Ted to family and friends, he was the son of Howard E. “Rocky” Stone and Alice Marie (Mueller) Stone. Born in Washington DC in 1955, Ted spent the better part of his formative years growing up in the Sudan, Pakistan, Nepal and Italy. He graduated from The Notre Dame International School in Rome, Italy in 1973. Returning to the United States Ted traveled with friends, and spent time in New York, Vermont, Colorado and California before earning his BS in Arts and Sciences from the University of Maryland. He then went on to get his CPA license.

The most influential time in Ted’s life was the years he spent in Boulder, Colorado in the 1980’s, during which time he was briefly married to Marti Holly. He studied at the Naropa Institute and as a member of the community through which he was mentored; he worked, learned, grew, contributed and was valued and respected. He returned to Colorado in 2015 after spending time in California and Maryland.

Ted was first and foremost resourceful and resilient. He was extremely intelligent, always inquisitive and curious. He has a great appreciation for the beauty of nature, which is what drew him back to Colorado, and a tremendous love for music despite his hearing loss. Above all he was compassionate and loving, sensitive to what life doled out to those he cared about. He had a compassionate understanding of the journeys of those less fortunate and always treated those he encountered with dignity.

Ted struggled every day not to let his persistent mental illness and profound hearing loss define him.  His daily internal battle to control and manage his mental illness was made harder by the stigma and prejudice in the world around him. And in the end, through the tragedy of his death, his spirit soars finally free from the pain and suffering at last.

Preceded in death by his Father Rocky Stone, Ted is survived by his Mother Alice Marie Stone, his sister Joelen Stone Frank (John), his brother Michael Stone, his sister Melanie Stone Hogan (John) and 10 nieces and nephews.

A sukhavati ceremony will be held for Ted at the Boulder Shambhala Center on Sunday the 28thof July at 4:30 PM.