Stone, who grew up with seven siblings on their family’s Oklahoma farm during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, dedicated much of the rest of his life to bettering the lives of family farmers and bolstering rural communities.

His involvement in Farmers Union was a family legacy. His grandfather was an early adopter, joining Oklahoma Farmers Union (OFU) in 1902, the organization’s inaugural year. 44 years later, George was elected secretary, and chaplain two years after that. Eventually, he left his decade-long career as an ordained minister to work for OFU full-time as manager of its insurance arm. He was later elected president, holding the position for a record-setting 24 years. During his tenure, he doubled the organization’s membership and set the foundation for the strong and vibrant OFU we know today. He then was elected President of NFU and led the organization from 1980 to 1984, fighting for important tax and economic reforms. He later returned to Oklahoma, where he took up farming again and served on the OFU board for twelve years. Over the course of his career, he worked with more than a dozen Oklahoma governors as well as a number of presidents, including Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.