Dagmar Stone

Dagmar Maria Stone, age 87 years of Buchanan, Michigan; mother, grandmother, cook, gardener, and proud German died peacefully at 4:19 p.m. on Monday, August 5, 2024 with her daughter at her side in West Woods of Niles following a brief illness.

She was born on November 21, 1936 in Mannheim, Germany to Karlheinz and Anastasia (Stecha) Schmitz, and was educated in local schools. She was employed for many years in the Post Exchange – PX – on the United States Army installation in Mannheim known as Benjamin Franklin Village. She first traveled to the United States in 1956, and has lived in Buchanan since 2002.

Dagmar was raised in the Catholic Church, and has continued to practice that faith all of her life. She was a great cook, both German and Italian fare, with favorites that included Sauerbraten and Rouladen. She enjoyed flower gardening, and had a special touch with sadly wilting plants, being able to revive them to green health. She also enjoyed being out in the sun, whether in the garden, at the beach, or poolside. She had a great love for animals, including her pets, a Golden Retriever, “Cheyene”, a Yorkshire Terrier, “Bean”, and her cat, “Bonnie”; but her greatest love was her family.

On May 1, 1973 at Fort Campbell near Clarksville, Kentucky she married Sergeant First Class Milton Joe Stone, U.S.Army. Dagmar and “Stoney” celebrated the forty-fourth anniversary of their wedding prior to his death on April 4, 2018. SFC Milton Stone’s service record of high decorations and more than twenty-two years of service entitled him to full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, and Dagmar accompanied his casket on that cross-country trip to proudly stand next-to his grave, receive his flag, and listen to “Taps”.

In addition to her husband, Dagmar was preceded in death by a daughter, Ellen Janenz in 2005; a son-in-law, Gary L. Vinnedge in 2017; her parents, and her siblings, Gisela Lauer, Karlheinz Schmitz, Ellen Deatherage, Helga Bodie, Ursula Langhans, Hans Schmitz, and Monika Schmitz.

Surviving family includes her daughter, Cheryl Vinnedge of Niles; grandchildren Michael A. Vinnedge, and Courtney Vinnedge (& Nick Helt); a special ‘extra’ daughter, Sherry Tehrani; and many nieces and nephews.

Service arrangements for Dagmar Stone are pending and will be announced on this page. Burial will be on her family’s lot in Mannheim, Germany. Arrangements are in progress at the Halbritter-Wickens Funeral Home, 615 East Main Street in Niles. Online condolences and memories may be left at:

www.halbritterwickens.com

Eighty-seven years is a long life – although never long enough – and Dagmar used those years in a remarkable manner; maintaining relationships with families on both sides of the ocean; raising a young family while supporting a career soldier; and then, in her senior years, continuing to garden, relax in the sun, and care for her pets.