VIRGINIA BEACH -- No one remembers how Mortie Stone picked up the nickname "Frog.''

Maybe it was his love of swimming and water skiing in his native Mecklenberg County. Or the odd way he kicked his legs while swimming the breaststroke.

"He was an excellent swimmer, but he didn't swim the way most people do,'' said daughter Pam Bolt of Virginia Beach. "He looked like a frog to me.''

Mortie Vernon "Frog'' Stone Sr. died Wednesday at age 69 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He was known for raising rabbits at his Pembroke area home, hand-feeding squirrels and tirelessly collecting aluminum cans to raise money for a therapeutic horseback-riding program for physically and emotionally disabled children and teens.

Stone was raised on a tobacco farm. He served 20 years with the Navy in Hampton Roads, where he and wife Anita Morris Stone grew their family.

But he remained a displaced country boy. After his retirement from civil service in 1992, Stone grew increasingly sedentary and dispirited.

Then, volunteers at the Virginia Beach-based riding program Equi-Kids asked him to collect aluminum cans on weekend trips to his family's farm. The cans could be recycled and converted into cash to help pay for the nonprofit effort.

Bolt's three sons had benefited from therapeutic riding, and Stone quickly embraced the chance to give back to the program that helped his grandsons.

He retrieved cans from the farm. What's more, he drove around Virginia Beach two or three times daily, collecting cans from parks, curbsides and even trash bins.

He'd load his Ford Tempo with large garbage bags stuffed with cans and haul them to the salvage yard or recycler that offered the best deal. Stone's work translated into $200 to $300 a year.

He continued collecting cans after being diagnosed with ALS about 2 1/2 years ago.

But about a year ago, he could no longer drive. Stone foraged for cans on foot until his disease worsened about six months ago.

At the funeral home on Friday, Stone was remembered for his contributions to Equi-Kids and for the moniker fondly given him in childhood. Among the flowers near his casket was a green-sprayed arrangement in the shape of a frog.