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obituaries Thomas F. Stone 1943 - 2021
Longtime Santa Barbara resident Thomas F. Stone passed away peacefully on Sunday, December 5, 2021. Tom was born to Frank and Louise (Parkhurst) Stone in Keokuk, Iowa, in 1943. He attended the University of Iowa for both undergraduate and law school where he enjoyed hijinks with his brothers in Sigma Chi, was elected senator at-large and, as a side benefit, received an excellent education. Appropriately, his father was a straight-laced professor (and later dean) of education at the University. Tom hated the Iowa winter weather so he set his sights on a more pleasant climate. While driving down the California coast searching for just such a place, he and his thenwife Gayle Lynds, fell in love with Santa Barbara, where they moved in 1969, just in time for that year’s infamous oil spill. In 1974 Tom returned to Iowa for a week to join friends for the second-ever RAGBRI endurance ride. His love of cycling continued throughout his life, including a brief stint as an amateur criterium racer. He also discovered a love for hiking in California’s mountains. The literal highpoint was when he climbed Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. When Tom first arrived in Santa Barbara he joined the Hatch and Parent law firm as an associate and later opened his own practice. Among other clients, he represented the Isla Vista Recreation and Park District, the Santa Barbara Redevelopment Agency, and the Polo Club. He gave of his time freely serving on the Transition House Board, and volunteering for the Legal Aid Foundation, and other charities before his retirement. Tom met, then in 1998 married the love of his life, Alexandra (Sandy) Leslie. Tom had a deep love for music, which was shown by his insistence on using Dave Brubek’s “Take
Five” as his ringtone long after it was fashionable to have customized ringtones. So Tom and Alexandra’s pairing made special sense because Alexandra was an outstanding musician. Together they were active in the effort to preserve the San Marcos foothills and Tom served as Vice President and Director of the Coalition. They also were part of the Santa Barbara Zen Center and practicing Buddhists. They took long walks where Tom continued to explore his love of photography. Tom and Alexandra moved to Des Moines, Iowa, in 2017 to retire and after Alexandra’s passing, Tom moved to Chevy Chase, Maryland, to live two blocks from his family. Tom is survived by his son Paul, his daughter Julia, his daughter-in-law Katrina, his son-in-law Kari Timonen, and his grandchildren Sophia Stone and Finn Thomas Timonen. He is also survived by his step-daughters Jennifer, Susan, Linda, Pam, and by a host of grandchildren and great grandchildren whom Alexandra brought into his life. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the scholarship fund established at the University of Iowa. Checks should be made out to the UI Center for Advancement and note in the memo line the name of the fund “Franklin D. and Louise P. Stone International Scholarship (30-350-027)” and “in memory of Thomas F. Stone.” Checks should be mailed to the attention of Callie Murry at One West Park Road, Iowa City, IA 52242. For online donations go to the University’s “Give to Iowa” site at https://tinyurl.com/ y7tkm684. Search for and select “other” areas to support and click next. Then type in “Franklin D. and Louise P. Stone International Scholarship” in the box asking where the contribution should be directed. A virtual memorial service is being planned, if you would like notification of the service please email tomstonememorial@gmail.com.
WAGNER – D. William 12/7/2021
in his name to the Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara (www.lafsbc.org, 301 E. Canon Perdido Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101) or Santa Barbara Human Rights Watch (11500 W. Olympic Blvd. Suite 608, Los Angeles, CA 90064.)
Jesse Alexander
4/15/1929 - 12/14/2021 D. William (Bill) Wagner, 78, passed December 7 th , 2021, at home in Santa Barbara, CA surrounded by his wife and sons. Bill was born to Earl and Lois Wagner in Dixon, IL and raised in Sterling, IL. A lifelong love of language and people led him from consecutive statewide debate championships for Illinois in 1960 and 1961 to Northwestern University to study Political Science and Government, continuing at Northwestern University School of Law where he graduated Cum Laude and was a member of the Law Review. Bill started practicing law in Chicago and moved to Los Angeles in 1981 as a partner at Sidley & Austin, specializing in corporate and commercial real estate law for over forty years. He was a champion of human and legal rights for all. His advocacy began early with work for the National Institute for Education in Law and Poverty in Chicago and continued with thirty years of service as a board member for Housing Options for People to Excel (HOPE) transitional housing in Venice, California. After moving to Santa Barbara, he served for eight years as vice chair on the steering committee for Human Rights Watch and as a board member for the Legal Aid Foundation. Bill was preceded in death by his first wife Barbara and survived by his sister Marcia, loving wife Sue Aldrich Wagner, sons Peter and Nicholas, their wives and his four grandchildren. He was a remarkable human being, beloved by family and friends, and will be remembered for many gifts, but perhaps most prominently for always being ready to share a companionable smile and a kindred voice. Those wishing to do so are invited to make a donation
kindness, grateful spirit, and persistent sense of wonder will live on in the hearts of all those who knew him. And the legacy of his empathetic eye will be shared by everyone he reached but never met. Jesse is survived by his wife of 56 years, Nancy Alexander, and their son, Jess. And his first wife, Patricia Beckham, and their daughters, Rori, Heidi, Andi, and Susie. Along with nieces and nephews, his many grandchildren, and most recently, the first great-grandchild.
Larry Hafiz Decker, Ph.D. Jesse Alexander, 92, a photographer who documented the golden age of motorsport, passed away on December 14, 2021, in Santa Barbara. He was comfortable and at home, with his beloved wife, Nancy, by his side, holding his hand. Jesse was born on April 15, 1929, in Santa Barbara to Florence Louise Lyman and Junius Beverly Alexander. Jesse grew up in Montecito where he attended The Howard School, then went to boarding school in Massachusetts at Fessenden, and then Pomfret in Connecticut. Jesse returned to California for college at UCSB, where he studied photography and met his first wife. They moved to Europe with the first of their four daughters, where Jesse would document the international motor racing scene as a photojournalist from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, counting its players as his closest friends. His pictures captured the on-track danger and glamorous spectacle, defining the sport for a generation of fans. Jesse’s ability to feature the human element of motorsport made his images more than just a record of thrilling events and elegant machines but also evocative fine art. His photographs have been published in countless publications and now hang in the homes of collectors, galleries, and museums. After all of his professional success and global acclaim, Jesse most loved being a “Happy Snapper,” documenting the everyday beauty of life in his hometown, Santa Barbara. Jesse’s
INDEPENDENT.COM
1/8/1941 - 6/19/2021
Larry Hafiz Decker, Ph.D., 80, passed into the light on June 19, 2021. Psychologist, university professor, and author of two books, The Alchemy of Combat and Out from the Inside, and many professional publications, presentations, and workshops. He specialized in Post-Traumatic stress disorder. He was in two documentaries: Gail Osherenko’s, ‘The Birds of Los Banos’, and Josh Aronson’s, ‘To Be of Service’. Husband, father, friend, psychologist, professor, swimmer, surfer, world traveler, longtime member of the Sufi Inayatiyya Order, and so much more. He is survived by his wife of 56 years Beverly, sons, Joshua and Shawn, two grandchildren, Ava and James, daughter in law, Vanessa, his brother Roger, sisters, Gail and Nancy and many friends and relatives. Words can never express how profoundly he is loved and missed. There was an on-line memorial on August 14, 2021.
DECEMBER 23, 2021
THE INDEPENDENT
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