Wayne businessman Jack Stone Jr. dies after collapsing at work

John "Jack" Stone Jr. loved visiting Marco Island, Fla. But when someone asked him why he didn't retire there after stepping down as CEO of Dukane Corp., he replied "If I retire, I will die."

"His life was that company and the people (who worked there.) He loved the people," said his widow, Cheryl Stone. "He always told us he wanted to die at his desk at Dukane."

Stone, 81, of Wayne, collapsed and died in the lobby of the business Friday.

His life was about more than his work. He served many charitable and business organizations, including being trustee emeritus for Elgin Academy, a member of the trustee council of Exeter Academy, of which he was a graduate, and a fundraiser for Princeton University, where he studied quantum physics under Albert Einstein.

Cheryl Stone said her husband had a difficult time understanding Einstein's speaking. So he would record the lectures on a wire recorder, to listen to them again.

And then record over them. He kicked himself about that "many times" over the years, she said, laughing.

He also was a supporter of the Two Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America, for which he persuaded former President Gerald Ford to conduct a private fundraising reception at the Stones' home.

Stone served four terms as president of the Dunham Woods Riding Club, an equestrian and social club his father had founded. He was a director of Children's Memorial Hospital and the State Bank of St. Charles, and was a member of the Men's Foundation of Delnor Hospital.

He also raced cars and flew airplanes.

"Thirty-three years. It was quite a ride. His was a very exciting life, despite his difficulties," Cheryl Stone said of their time together.

Most painful was the loss of his two sons. One died at age 21 of cancer, the other in his 30s of liver failure.

From 1962 to 2002, Stone was CEO of the company his father founded. Dukane started as Operadio Manufacturing Co. in 1922, making portable wireless radios. It soon branched out into making amplifiers, speakers, filmstrip projectors and other audiovisual equipment and was renamed Dukane in 1951.

Stone and his late brother, William, bought the company in 1968. Today it makes items for audiovisual presentations, underwater acoustic beacons and microcomputer-run joining equipment.

A wake will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Yurs Funeral Home, 405 E. Main St., St. Charles. A funeral is at 11 a.m. Saturday at Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Route 38 and LaFox Road, LaFox.