Sam Stone’s career legacy is serving the people and places he loves
If you have attended a home football game at Memorial Stadium in the past 43 years and needed a Band-Aid, something for a headache or medical attention that might have saved your life, chances are you were treated by Dr. Sam Stone ’76.
Through the 2023 Clemson Football season, Sam served as volunteer director of the stadium’s first aid booth, a position he began as a medical resident in Anderson, South Carolina, in the early ’80s. For decades at every home football game, Sam — alongside a team of volunteer nurses and paramedics — cared for everyone who needed it. During the Texas A&M game in 2019, the team treated more than 175 people for heat-related distress as the on-field temperature surpassed 100 degrees at kickoff.
For Sam, it is an honor and a privilege to give back to Clemson University, the school he feels gave him everything. He chose Clemson because he knew it was the best school to prepare for a future in medicine. He believes it still is, and he is contributing to that as well.
About 10 years ago, Sam and a group of four other physician alumni created Tigers on Call, an annual event that connects Clemson students preparing for a career in health care with alumni professionals in fields like medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. The program offers students the opportunity to engage in practical demonstrations, earn certifications, participate in roundtable discussions and learn from distinguished alumni and keynote speakers.
“It gives us a chance to share with students what we did, how we did it and how to get where they want to go,” Sam said. “You can waste a lot of time and money taking the wrong courses or picking the wrong major.”
Aside from his volunteerism at Clemson, Sam is dedicated to the two other great loves of his life: his high school sweetheart, Beverly Stone, and the community of Chester, South Carolina. He has provided primary care for generations of Chester residents.
“I tell people there’s no problem with access to health care in Chester because they know where I live, what church I go to and where I go to the hardware store,” joked Sam.
After more than 40 years of volunteer service and treating generations of neighbors and friends, Sam still makes time for work-life balance. He and Beverly prioritize spending time with family at their farm in Chester. Their son Peter Stone ’03, his wife, Katharine, and their daughter, Olivia, as well as their son Marc Stone, his wife, Pam, and their children, Henry and Annie Gray, all live nearby.
Until last year, Sam hadn’t seen a Clemson Football halftime show since college, but there was one game when he made an exception and went inside the stadium to be with Beverly. It was during the legendary “hurricane game” in 2015 versus Notre Dame, when 80,000 fans feared they might float away from the torrential downpour throughout the game. Ever the caregiver, Sam told his crew, “Come and find me if you need me; my wife is in there!”
The Stones’ giving history began when Sam was still a Clemson student and continues today. Most notably, the Stones created the Dr. Sam and Beverly Stone Family Scholarship Endowment for students in Chester County and the Tigers on Call Scholarship Endowment.
