Anticipating a change in the Ceylonese government and a possible termination of his employment, in 1929 Stace persuaded Trinity College to grant him an honorary LittD degree after he presented the College with the equivalent of a doctoral thesis he had written titled The Theory of Knowledge and Existence.
After being employed for 22 years (1910-1932) in the Ceylon Civil Service, in 1932 Stace was offered the option of retirement, which he took.