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James and Naomi Stock Educational Enrichment Fund
A collaborative fundraising effort between the Community Foundation of West Chester/Liberty and Miami University’s Voice of America Learning Center to honor James and Naomi Stock has been announced.
“Our goal is to raise more than $150,000 to honor the Stocks with funds dedicated to the newly-established James and Naomi Stock Miami Teacher’s Fund, an endowed fund providing annual grants to graduates of Miami’s School of Education, Health and Society
who are employed in Ohio,” said David Macejko, Director of Development for Miami’s VOA Learning Center. In addition to the creation of the Teacher’s Fund, the seminar room at the Learning Center in West Chester will be named for the Stocks.
Patti Alderson, CEO and Board Chair of the Community Foundation of West Chester/Liberty, said “We’re pleased to be able to honor such outstanding residents of our community, and we’re thrilled to partner with Miami in this venture.”
The Stocks, who have known each other since childhood, are Miami mergers. Both 77, they have been married 59 years, and
together have earned five Miami degrees. Jim has a doctorate in School Administration; Naomi a master’s of education.
Dr. Stock said he and his wife are humbled by the honor. “We’re humbled … and impressed. We had no idea something like this
was in the offering. It came as total surprise to my wife and me,” Stock said. “Miami has made a real impression upon us. We’re
devoted to it and enjoy being a part of the Miami family. It has enriched our lives over the years in many, many ways.”
In addition to teaching at Lakota High School and serving on Miami’s faculty in Oxford, Naomi Stock played a key role in revitalizing
the vocational education system in Ohio. For 26 years, she supervised curriculum, teachers, and programs at Great Oaks Career &
Technical Center, and was instrumental in writing the educational specifications for the architectural layouts encompassing $100
million of new building construction for all four Great Oaks campuses in southwest Ohio, and one in Greene County, Ohio. She also
worked as Home Economics department chair for Princeton City Schools, and helped train Miami student teachers. She served 22
years on the Central Committee for the Butler County Republican Party, including stints as precinct leader and secretary.
Jim Stock was assistant superintendent of Mariemont schools in Cincinnati as well as superintendent of Lebanon City Schools,
assistant superintendent of Princeton City Schools, and deputy superintendent of the Montgomery County Board of MR/DD. He led
the Lincoln Heights/Princeton merger in the late 1960s with desegregation grant monies to help smooth the transition after Lincoln
Heights lost its state charter and Princeton agreed to absorb those students.
Jim has served 10 different denominations in “pulpit supply” capacity for local churches, filling the void for congregations between
pastors and sometimes preaching for a year or more until the vacancy was filled. “In some cases, attendance improved while I was
there, which is a good sign,” Stock said with a chuckle. He also conducts retreats and seminars for local church groups. Affiliated with
West Chester Church of the Nazarene, the Stocks have participated in church-construction mission projects in Paraguay, Brazil, Peru,
and the Dominican Republic.
The Stocks have one son, Jonathan, a Columbus attorney, Lakota High School’s 1988 class valedictorian, and a graduate of
Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. His wife, Kimberley, is a physician. In their “spare” time, Jim and Naomi Stock enjoy
photography, reading, writing, and playing with their two grandchildren, Heather, 10, and Nathan, 6.
 
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