Denise M. Stone

Denise Marie Stone passed away, peacefully, on the 14th of January 2025.

If there is any true definition of unconditional love, it is Denise Stone. She was a woman of dignity and pride, a person who accepted everyone at their highest, lowest and anywhere in between. When the universe was dark, Denise was the light that protected those in her world through thick and thin. Her smile could light up the room. Her energy could turn the earth upside down and anyone who was blessed to have crossed her path was greeted with immediate acceptance and protection.

Denise was a known safe place for many who needed a place to be safe. She was not only an amazing mother to her own children, but a mother to all of their friends, from childhood to their teenage years and into their adult lives. When there wasn’t a home for some to go home to, her home became theirs without a question asked. In all her days, Denise would never falter in protecting and fighting for those she loved, for the less fortunate, the underdogs. She worked long hours, at multiple jobs, to make sure no one went hungry, everybody was warm at night, despite many of those times meaning she went without. Somehow, as a single mother, she made it all look so easy. Through all of those difficult times, she always found a way to laugh and bring laughter to everyone around her.

You could often find Denise blasting her music from Bob Segar to Lady Gaga, to her beloved Lukus Wells. You’d always know, when you walked through her door, that if the music was crankin’, she was in there dancing and cooking up one of her many famous recipes for everyone to enjoy. That door was never locked, not to anyone.

She had so many good friends who remember her countless, crazy antics serving up cold ones behind the bar at her revitalized establishment in Sayre, PA cleverly named “After Hours,” which she owned and operated with her best friend, Joe Mandel. In the blink of an eye, you could catch the two of them hopping on Joe’s motorcycle and galavanting off on the days they managed to save some time for themselves.

Denise was a force to be reckoned with when it came to things she was passionate about. She was more spontaneous than a rogue firecracker and rolled with life’s punches better than anyone ever has. She had fire in her soul and adventure in her beautiful, brown eyes. As a young couple, her and her only husband, David L. Stone, sold all their belongings to move from New York to California with only what they could fit in their car. If it seemed like fun at the time, you’d know it was a “yes” from her. There is something to be learned about the appreciation she had for the briefness of this one life. She was a lover. She was a rescuer.

Denise was a savior of so many lives, including so many animals in need, always choosing the ones who needed the most love of all. She even joined her daughter in countless protests against animal cruelty and once tried to free a captured elephant, resulting in the elephant’s successful rescue to live out its life at its own elephant sanctuary.

Denise lived her life for those around her. She was the type of human they just don’t make anymore, cut from a cloth that all of us should aspire to be. It should not be left unsaid that Denise would have hated to have all of this said about her. She was selfless, and believe it or not, shy. Denise is predeceased by her son, David “Jamie” Stone, her mother, Roxanne Mensch, her father Parvin Mensch and her best friend Joe Mandel. She is survived by her daughter, Jodi Stone, her son-in-law Luke Foster, her fur-grand babies Gauge, Ziggy, and Hershey as well as her siblings, nieces and nephews, so many friends that were her chosen family, and…the elephant.

Because Denise hated winter, her daughter would like to invite everyone who knew and loved Denise to a celebration of life, to be announced at a later, much warmer date. Denise touched so many lives and will be greatly missed. Ride free, Momma. You are missed and love so very much..

Abidng with Denise's wishes, there will be no services, memories and condolences can be shared in her online guestbook at www.macphersonfh.com. In lieu of flowers please kindly donate to Stray Haven Humane Society and SPCA, 19 Shepard Road, Waverly, NY or https://strayhavenspca.harnessgiving.org/donate.