January 31, 1944 – January 2, 2024
Dessa Stone was born in Detroit, the youngest of seven children. She graduated from Cass Technical High School and was the first in her family to graduate from college, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wayne State University and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Detroit.
Dessa was a practicing social worker and therapist for fifty years, helping countless people to live their best lives. She was the owner of Indianwood Psychology Group, a well-regarded therapy provider office in the heart of Lake Orion.
She avidly participated in the democratic process, working toward a more just society. Dessa was a passionate pianist who loved music, the arts, and new adventures.
Dessa’s parents were born on the island of Ikaria, Greece, where Dessa and her husband Jack Kobliska spent several months each year enjoying the food, homemade wine, fellowship,
and breathtaking views of the Aegean Sea. Her idea of community was the whole world, a concept rooted in the Greek word philoxenia (hospitality or, literally, “love of strangers”). In this spirit, she worked tirelessly with relief organizations to provide funds, medical equipment, clothing, and baby supplies for refugees arriving in Greece.
Dessa was preceded in death by her parents Sam and Goldie Stone, siblings Mary, John, Ronald, Gus, and Sam, and granddaughter Vivian Rose Heger.
She is survived by her loving husband, beloved sister Jean Leith, daughters Amanda Rosman (Todd Inniss) and Emily Rosman (Rene Heger), stepdaughters Rosey Wyland (Bill), Annie Kobliska-Becker (Steve Welch), Lizzie Rosman (Mitchell Schwartz), and Katie Rosman (Joe Ehrlich), goddaughter Leida Zenelaj, grandchildren Ajani DeFreece, Zavier and Soren Inniss, Ana Sophia and Luke Heger, Grace and Lily Wyland, and Jack and Sol Welch, and many nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to the International Rescue Committee, www.rescue.org.