Laurence O’Hear Stoney, Sr. was born August 21, 1921, the son of Thomas Porcher Stoney and Beverly DuBose Stoney. He was raised in Charleston and graduated from the University of the South, Sewanee, in 1942. During World War II, he served as a PT boat squadron commander. After the war he entered the University of Virginia Law School and graduate in 1948. He joined his father and brother in a firm which became Stoney & Stoney with offices at 51 Broad Street, Charleston, where he continued his practice until his death on June 12, 1992.
Laurence Stoney was a respected and successful lawyer specializing in real estate and probate law. He served as President of the Charleston Bar in 1967–68, was Chairman of the City of Charleston School Board and served as President of the Board of Directors of the French Huguenot Church. He is survived by his wife Jane Saunders Stoney and two sons, Thomas P. Stoney II and Laurence O. Stoney, Jr.