James Gerald (Jerry) Stone, Jr., of Brevard, NC, stepped into the Great Beyond on Saturday, July 11, 2026, at the age of 85 with his wife and children by his side and best friends nearby.

Born April 29, 1941, in LaGrange, Georgia, to the late Mildred and James Gerald Stone, Sr., Jerry graduated from Lanier High School in Macon, Georgia, before going on to earn a B.A. from Mercer University and an M.S. from Minnesota State University.

After college, Jerry completed the U.S. Army Infantry, Airborne and Ranger training programs at Fort Benning, Georgia, before returning to Mercer to serve in administrative leadership roles from 1965-73, including Dean of Students, Director of Student Activities, and Athletic Director. Having become the first university in Georgia to voluntarily desegregate, Jerry was able to play a small but powerful role in the greater American Civil Rights Movement, ushering in Mercer’s first Black student-athletes and administrators while supporting countless minority students and children in the community.

Charged with booking student activities for Mercer during this period, Jerry famously transformed a shoestring budget to bring world class speakers and musical acts including David Schoenbrun, the only U.S. journalist to have interviewed Ho Chi Minh at the time; Saul Alinsky; Jane Fonda; Jack Anderson; Bernadette Devlin; Julian Bond; Frederick Wiseman; Otis Redding, for whose funeral he served as head pallbearer; Lynyrd Skynyrd; Led Zeppelin; Percy Sledge; and Little Richard. When the owners of Capricorn Records called on a school night insisting a new act of theirs perform that evening, Jerry set up a nascent Allman Brothers Band in the University Chapel, sirening Mercer students all across campus with their psychedelic blues ringing loud and far.

It was also during these years that Jerry first began developing experiential education and leadership programs for college students, coupling his passions for the outdoors and empowering young people. Years later, Jerry would found the industry-leading Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education program at Brevard College, as well as his own Castle Rock Institute alongside Dr. Jeffrey Carter.

The pull of summer camp began early for Jerry, coaching at the Macon YMCA during high school, launching that Y’s first summer camp while in college, and working summers at Camp Carolina for Boys in Brevard during his Mercer years. After restoring several coal mining operations to financial solvency in the late 1970’s, he was able to buy Camp Carolina with Nathan Thompson in 1982 and Rockbrook Camp for Girls, also in Brevard, in 1984. Jerry sold his stake in Camp Carolina to the Thompson family in 1990, continuing to own and direct Rockbrook until happily passing the torch to longtime Rockbrookers Sarah and Jeff Carter in 2008. Jerry's dedication to cultivating courage, curiosity, and kindness lives on as hundreds of girls and young women continue to spend their summers walking paths he helped lay.

Jerry also took great pride in ensuring that the extraordinary land Rockbrook calls home would be protected in perpetuity through a conservation easement. He went on to significantly further land conservation across southern Appalachia, serving on the board of the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and shepherding many local camps and landowners through the conservation process.

Jerry's unwavering commitment to strengthening support for young people and those with fewer resources than his own is woven deep into the fabric of Western North Carolina. He co-founded or played a key role in launching Transylvania Vocational Services, the Rebound Program at Davidson River School, the Children’s Center of Transylvania County, and Whitewater Cove children’s home. The foundation of today’s thriving Cindy Platt Boys & Girls Club of Transylvania County was laid through his partnership with Lois Harris, Cindy Platt, and other local leaders. He was a longtime board member of many local institutions, including the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute. Jerry was also a steadfast and integral presence at Brevard College, serving in positions from basketball coach to bus driver to trustee. He was especially proud of helping to establish the College’s first women’s soccer team (1996 & 1997 NJCAA Div. 1 National Champions). As a trustee, Jerry helped steward a remarkable expansion of the College's endowment, greatly increasing access for students with financial need.

Jerry is survived by his wife, Ann Shields Stone; children Lucie D. (Asheville, NC) and Alan (Wink) H. Stone, Jr. (Chicago, IL); sister, Mildred (Midge) and her husband, Jim Cook (Valdosta, GA).

A memorial celebration will be held at 11am on Saturday, August 22, 2026, at Bent River Farm, 397 Bent River Farm Road, Pisgah Forest, NC, to celebrate the life and spirit of this extraordinary man. Memorials in his honor may be made to the Children’s Center of Transylvania County, the Cindy Platt Boys & Girls Club