Record-setting Augusta Realtor Claire Stone remembered as tireless worker, kind friend

Very few reasons would prevent Claire Stone from closing a real estate deal.

“She is the only real estate agent I know that gave birth and wrote a sales contract in the same day,” said E.G. Meybohm, founder and president of Meybohm Real Estate. “That goes to show you how dedicated she was to her clients. She truly loved what she did and it was evident in her success.”

Stone, whose passion and drive helped make her one of the most successful Realtors in Augusta history, died Oct. 25. She was 72.

In a 44-year realty career, Stone shattered residential sales records that routinely earned her repeated honors as Meybohm’s agent of the month and agent of the year. The company was still called Southern Finance Co. when she began work there in 1978 as an office manager, but Stone quickly discovered a knack for selling about the time that the business changed its name to Meybohm Real Estate.

“I love what I do,” she told The Augusta Chronicle in 1998. “It’s in my blood.”

“At the end of the day, she didn’t worry about her sales figures, just about doing what was best for her clients,” Meybohm said.

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One of the most important deals she ever closed involved matrimony, not real estate. Her 34-year marriage to investment adviser Frank Stone III matched two people with outsized friendliness and generosity before he died in 2018 at age 69.

Stone didn’t have a complicated sales approach. She just followed the Golden Rule, which is forge relationships with people long after the mortgages were signed.

“I've been surprised at how many of my customers have become my friends,” she said. “In fact, my very best friend, who now lives in Washington, D.C., was a customer of mine. I sold her a house in Augusta way back when and we became the best of friends.”

A private memorial service will be held to celebrate Stone's life in the coming months. Details will be provided after the family has finalized plans. Platt’s Funeral Home is overseeing arrangements.

Memorials may be made to the Neurology Stroke Program Fund at Augusta University by visiting www.augusta.edu/giving/gift.php?fund=211380.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Super-seller Claire Stone chartered booming Augusta realty career