Lael Stone, age 59, Died peacefully on February 4, 2019, at the Maltz Hospice House, Beachwood, Ohio, surrounded by her family. She was a dedicated physician, steadfast friend, and loving mother and daughter. Born in New York, New York on June 3, 1959, she spent the first year of her life in Japan. Afterwards, Lael grew up living in many places across the United States, but always considered herself from New Mexico.
From a young age, she was a bright student fascinated by science, literature, and language. She attended National Cathedral School, Washington, D.C., for her first two years of high school, later graduating from Concord Academy, Concord, Massachusetts, in 1977. Lael was a proud alumna of Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, where she earned both a B.A.S. in Biology and Spanish and an M.S. in Biology in 1982. In 1986, she received her M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, where she also completed her medical residency in 1990. As a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland, she began specializing in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). In the following years, Dr. Stone continued her work on MS at the Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, finally moving to the Cleveland Clinic Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1998. She spent the rest of her years as a practicing physician at the Mellen Center and came to call Cleveland her home.
Dr. Stone was fiercely committed to helping her patients, who adored her. In addition to her clinical work, she continually strove to better understand MS as a researcher. From 2007 to 2013, she served as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of MS Care. Dr. Stone was passionate about advancing and mentoring women in medicine. Throughout her life, she found great joy in traveling, reading, and dancing. In her later years, she also enjoyed practicing yoga and tai chi.
In March of 2017, Dr. Stone was diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer. Despite the challenges of the cancer, she continued living with extraordinary dignity and grace – laughing with friends, working on medical research, mentoring women, reading to children, and caring for her family. Her love and strength in the face of adversity is a testament to the power of the human spirit.
She is survived by her mother, Mary Elizabeth Stone, her former husband, Daniel Holt Schoonmaker (John Altiere), and her two sons, Matthew Gregory Stone Schoonmaker and Geoffrey James Stone Schoonmaker. She was predeceased by her father, Dr. Robert Samuel Stone.
A PUBLIC MEMORIAL SERVICE will be held at 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, February 16, 2019, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2747 Fairmount Boulevard, Cleveland Heights, OH 44106. A reception will be held at St. Paul’s immediately following the service.
In lieu of flowers, donations to support the charitable causes that were important to Dr. Stone can be made to the Stone Family Fund at the Cleveland Foundation. Checks can be mailed to The Cleveland Foundation, 1422 Euclid Avenue, Suite 1300, Cleveland, Ohio 44115. Online donations can be made via the following link: https://bit.ly/StoneFund. Sign guestbook online at: MaherMelbourne.com
