Claude Ulysses "Bud" Stone (April 30, 1926 – December 29, 2014) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

during the 92nd General Assembly. He was born April 30, 1926, to former Democratic Congressman

Claude U. Stone Claudius Ulysses Stone (May 11, 1879 – November 13, 1957) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois. Biography Born on a farm in Menard County, near Greenview, Illinois, Stone attended the rural school and Western Normal College, Bushnell, ...

and his wife Alma Marie Stone. He was raised in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

, and graduated from Peoria High School. He earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in economics from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, a Bachelor of Science in business marketing from

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,200 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in fiv ...

and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, in 1948, 1949 and 1951 respectively. In 1953, he married his wife, Mary Louise, with whom he had three children. In 1956, he became a Republican precinct committeeman, which began a lifetime of activism with the Republican Party including a tenure as chairman of the Tazewell County Republican Party in the 1990s. In 1985, he retired as an executive with

Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc., also known as Cat, is an American construction, mining and other engineering equipment manufacturer. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 73 on the ' ...

He was appointed July 13, 2001, to succeed Robert Madigan who was appointed to the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission. He served on two committees; Agriculture & Conservation; and Licensed Activities. The 45th district, located in Central Illinois, included DeWitt,

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gove ...

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...

, Tazewell, and Woodford counties along with the northern half of

Piatt County Piatt County is a county in Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 16,673. Its county seat is Monticello. Piatt County is part of the Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area. History The first settler was G ...

and the southern portion of McLean County. Soon after, the decennial redistricting process split the territory of the 45th district into neighboring districts and placed Stone in the new 44th district with retiring incumbent John Maitland. Despite the open seat, Stone chose not to run. Instead, then State Representative Bill Brady ran for Senate. He defeated Rus Kinzinger in the Republican primary and former Democratic House Majority Whip Gerald A. Bradley in the 2002 general election. Stone died on December 29, 2014, in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal cit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Claudius Ulysses 1926 births 2014 deaths People from Morton, Illinois Politicians from Peoria, Illinois Bradley University alumni Cornell University alumni Stanford University alumni Republican Party Illinois state senators 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly