Veteran journalist Tad Stoner passed away on Friday night, 17 June. He was 70.
Stoner had worked at the Cayman Compass and several other media outlets since arriving in the Cayman Islands from Hong Kong with his wife Iris, also a journalist, and their three children, Erin, Ben and Adam in 2005.
Born in Philadelphia in 1951, he attended Swarthmore High School and Pennsylvania State University. He later studied journalism as a grad student at the University of Missouri, where he met Iris.
The couple moved to China in 1981, to work for the Xinhua News Agency in Beijing, where they remained for two years, travelling throughout the country at a time when westerners were uncommon sights there.
They then moved to Hong Kong, where Stoner worked as a reporter for a local radio station, then TV Times magazine, Star TV, and the Eastern Express and South China Morning Post newspapers. He was also a stringer for the Hollywood Reporter and Time magazine.
In 1994, the Stoners took over The Forest bar on Peng Chau, the outlying island they lived on, and ran it until 1998. After they sold the bar, Stoner worked at multimedia company PCCW before the family made their move to the Cayman Islands.
In recent years, Stoner had suffered a series of medical challenges and he was confined to a wheelchair, but his innate sense of humour, his love of reading, and his irrepressible appreciation for life continued to shine through.
A talented guitarist, he played in several bands in Hong Kong and Cayman, and over the past two years had been a regular fixture, with son Adam, at open-mic nights at various local venues, including The Lodge, The Outpost, and Thatch and Barrel, playing many of his favourite Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Beatles numbers.
Shortly before he passed away, he met his 7-month-old grandson, Max, for the first time, and spent time with his 4-year-old granddaughter, Lyla, when the entire family got together a few weeks ago for the first time in two-and-a-half years. His family was with him in his final hours before he passed away at Health City Cayman Islands.
“Tad and I shared a great adventure that took us from the US to Beijing, Hong Kong, and Cayman,” Iris said. “Along the way, he touched the lives of many and made wonderful friends. He also earned a well-deserved reputation as an excellent journalist and fantastic writer.”
“I am grateful for his love of family, intelligence, quick wit, humour, and continual grace under difficult circumstances. I want to thank everyone who has reached out to share their memories of his life well-lived”.
He leaves behind his wife Iris, daughter Erin and son-in-law Chris, sons Adam and Ben, grandchildren Max and Lyla, mother Elizabeth Welsh and brother Jonathan Stoner, plus extended family members.
A memorial will be held at a later date.
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