Carole Lynn Stoneking

Carole Lynn Stoneking was born March 28, 1937 in Gross Pointe Michigan to Robert Frank Stoneking and Esther Freda Stoneking, both deceased. She died February 03, 2016 in Lexington, South Carolina. She is survived by a sister, Janice McManus of Grosse Point Woods, MI; one niece Bridget McManus Council (Ed) of Framingham, MA; two nephews Sean McManus (Sue) of St. Clair Shores, MI and Michael McManus of Grosse Pointe Woods, MI and their extended families. A memorial service will be held in the spring. Memorial contributions may be made to the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center at 1108 Woodrow Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29205.

Carole was raised in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and has an undergraduate and graduate degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. She worked for twenty-seven years for the YWCA and was the executive director of that non-profit in both Jacksonville, Florida and Columbia, South Carolina. She received the Outstanding Leadership Award for United Way Executives in 1988. She had professional training at the Ozark Life Center of Therapy Technology in Little Rock, Arkansas and was the owner of the Stress Management Institute of Therapeutic Massage in Columbia for twenty-three years. She was a past vice-president of the Columbia Chapter of the National Organization for Women, a board member for the South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Business Guild, a past delegate for the South Carolina Equality Coalition, a board member for the South Carolina Council on Aging, a board member for Old Lesbians Organizing for Change and a member of that organization’s national steering committee. At the 2009 OLOC Conference, she was presented by the Boards of the South Carolina Pride Movement and the Harriet Hancock Foundation, the order of the Pink Palmetto in recognition of her leadership in Old Lesbians Organizing for Change and promoting issues of aging in the LGBT community. She received a special Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 from Listen, Inc.

She is survived by a sister, Janice McManus of Grosse Pointe Woods, MI; one niece Bridget McManus Council (Ed) of Framingham, MA; two nephews Sean McManus (Sue) of St. Clair Shores, MI and Michael McManus of Grosse Pointe Woods, MI and their extended families

Special thanks to Carol Roof and Millie Miller for their friendship and compassionate care of Ms. Stoneking. Memorial contributions may be made to the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center at 1108 Woodrow Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29205

 Service Information