Barbara Anne Stone's Obituary
Barbara Anne Stone (Chadwick) was born on December 11 1942 in Trenton, New Jersey. She passed away March 2, 2026 at the age of 83 in Annapolis, Maryland. She was the daughter of William and Helen Chadwick. She met the love of her life, Jim Stone at Trenton Community College and they subsequently married in June 1964.
She is survived by her husband of 61 years, Jim Stone, their daughter, Julie Peterson and husband Bob of Crofton, son Kenneth Stone and wife Jennifer of Fort Lauderdale Florida. She is also survived by her cherished grandsons, Robert and wife Christy, David and fiancé Clara and Michael Peterson and great grandchildren Daniel and Savannah Peterson.
Barbara’s love of reading and learning new things propelled her to earn a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering, a Masters in Business Management, and a PHD in Aerospace Systems Engineering.
When Jim joined the Air Force in 1966, Barbara accepted a position at the Air Force Armament Laboratory, Eglin AFB Florida as a Weapons System Analyst becoming the Air Force’s expert in air-to-ground weapons effectiveness representing the Air Force in many joint programs.
She then accepted a position at NASA and rose to become the Division Director for Plans and Policy. Her love of NASA and our country’s space program, and her love of writing and speaking served her well in that position. She wrote and presented many papers for publication in the journals of the aerospace associations. It lead her all over the world. She was the NASA liaison to many of the professional aeronautical associations like the International Aeronautics Federation and the space agencies of other countries. The only thing she loved more than traveling for NASA was traveling with family and making new memories. Whether it was train hopping in Europe as a newlywed or weeklong driving trips across the country with family, she loved it all.
In 1997, she retired from NASA to pursue her other lifelong interest, dolls. Barbara had kept her childhood dolls and over the years enjoyed learning about the world of dolls. When she learned of local clubs of doll enthusiasts, she immediately joined them and soon was president of each of the local clubs in succession; Chesapeake Doll Club, Doll Club of Maryland, and Dollology Club of Washington D.C. and then Regional Director for the National organization, The United Federation of Doll Clubs (UFDC). She was then elected to officer positions at UFDC culminating with the presidency from 2019 to 2021.
For Barbara, family came first as a loyal and devoted daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Her house was always open to family, friends, and sometimes strangers who quickly became friends. She loved to cook, bake, and share meals with friends and family.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday April 11, 2026 at Lasting Tributes, 814 Bestgate Road, Annapolis MD 21401. Visitations begin at 12:00pm and a ceremony at 1pm. All are invited back to the house afterwards.
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