In 2009, Dave Stone ’88 ran the Boston Marathon—his first marathon—in memory of his brother, Ralph ’80, who was murdered in 1997. Since then, he has dedicated nine more marathons to his brother. He just completed his tenth and final one in their hometown of Syracuse.
For both the first and the last marathon, Stone wore the same Hamilton shirt, pictured above. After his first race, he commented, “Running for Ralph was incredibly special for me and wearing the Hamilton colors enabled my family to celebrate our long relationship with the College.”
Indeed, the Stone family has many ties to the Hill—Stone’s other brother, Rick ’79, sister-in-law, Ellen ’79, father, Fred ’51 and niece, Louisa ’17 have continued the family tradition of a Hamilton education.
The Stone family individually and collectively honored the loss of Ralph. Stone remarked, “Running ten marathons was my way to work through the loss of my wonderful brother.” His mother, he said, took a different approach by finishing her son’s doctoral dissertation at George Washington University, ultimately earning him a posthumous Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree. Recognizing Ralph’s life-long love for music, the Stone family also established a fund at Hamilton “to provide private music lessons to students who receive financial aid.”
At Hamilton, Stone majored in history and was a member of Theta Delta Chi before earning his Master of Arts in teaching from Boston University in 1992. His brother was a music major and a member of Sigma Phi.
