Wichita State University’s Office of Adult Learning is dedicating its new lounge in Grace Wilkie Annex, Room 154, to Charles Joseph "Joe" Stone, who at 90 was the oldest graduate to receive a degree from WSU.

The celebration will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 27, in the Rhatigan Student Center, Room 233.

Stone was born in Frizell, Kansas, in 1913, and began attending WSU in 1934, where he was an English-journalism major and wrote for the student newspaper, “The Sunflower.” WSU is where he met his wife, Catherine, and together they raised five children.

Stone’s daughter, Marilyn, said WSU was always an important part of Joe’s life.

“It is where they first met and began their courtship,” she said of her parents. “My mother studied art and worked the switchboard in the bookstore. Dad, because he could drive a team of horses, was hired by the groundskeeper. He was allowed to sleep on a cot in the horse stable. The campus was brand new, and Dad planted most, if not all, of the trees on the grounds.”

Stone put his college education on hold just 23 credits short of graduation when he was promoted to primary detective for the Wichita Police Department.

In addition to working for the WPD, he also served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II and later returned to writing, working as a newspaper reporter in Kansas and California, and as a freelance writer for broadcast and publication. He began writing a column for “The Borrego Sun” in 1996, which he continued until his death. His career accomplishments were recognized by The San Diego Press Club, which awarded him the Harold Keen Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism.

As a writer, Stone had a love affair with typewriters, including a small Smith Corona model, which he used most of his life – and on which he authored three episodes of the television series “Gunsmoke.” Stone’s brother, Milburn, won an Emmy for his performance as Doc in the episode “Baker’s Dozen,” which was also written by Stone.

In 2003, Wichita State gave Stone credits for his prior learning and life experience, and he returned to campus to receive his degree in journalism – graduating at age 90. His accomplishment received congratulations from the governors of Kansas and California, the U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Queen of England, a Coast Guard admiral and Pope John Paul II.

The Office of Adult Learning is honored to dedicate its brand new lounge to Stone, Wichita State’s oldest adult learner and graduate, whose many and varied accomplishments serve as a shining example of lifelong learning and as an inspiration for generations of future Shockers.

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