Accident Kills ‘Ag Pioneer’

The national agriculture community and the Oklahoma State University community are mourning the loss of Marvin Stone, Ph.D.

Stone and his wife Bonnie, both 65, died Oct. 24 when a driver crashed her car into a crowd of people at the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade.

The couple was among four people who were killed and 47 who were injured. Among the dead were a 2-year-old boy whose mother was a student at OSU and an MBA student from the University of Central Oklahoma.

Stone served 24 years as a professor and researcher in OSU's Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. Since his retirement in 2006, he remained active at the university as an emeritus professor and researcher. He was an early developer of the GreenSeeker technology, which is central to his legacy in precision agriculture.

"Marv was one of the most intelligent and humble men I have ever worked with," said Ted Mayfield, former owner of NTech Industries, in a written statement. "He had an amazing way of explaining the most technical and complex concepts …"

Joe Denniston, Vice President of Trimble Agriculture, described Stone as a "true innovator," and said he has "left behind a legacy of helping farmers and the planet."

Stone was honored for his innovations earlier this year at a U.S. Congressional reception.

Bonnie Stone worked for 33 years in the Institutional Research and Information Management department at OSU.

The woman who drove her car into the crowd has been charged with four counts of second-degree murder. S