Arthur B Carlson III

Beloved husband of Nancy Carlson for over half a century; loving father to Melanie (Daniel) Peterson and Arthur Carlson IV. Devoted grandfather to Andrew, Charlotte and Matthew Peterson, and Lara and Mia Carlson.

He is survived by his brother James (Wendy) Carlson of Ottawa, Ontario, as well as nieces and nephews David, Debbie (Anthony), Patti-Kim, Julie (Stephen), Jamie, Lauren (Brian) and Michael (Kathryn) Carlson, and Michelle and Heather (Doug) DeSantis. He was predeceased by his brother Ronald K. Carlson and his nephew Christopher G. Carlson, as well as his parents Ruth and Arthur B. Carlson, Jr.

Arthur was born on Thanksgiving Day 1942, November 26, in Chicago, Illinois. His Uncle Lloyd noted the boy had hair so red it looked like a rusty nail. The nickname Rusty stuck, and, because his father and grandfather were both Arthurs as well, it worked out well. Many who have known him only as Rusty had no idea his real name was in fact Arthur.

Rusty grew up in Skokie and then Wilmette, Illinois, where he followed in his father’s footsteps and attended what he often called the real and only New Trier High School (later becoming New Trier East and then back to just New Trier High School). He excelled at baseball and in math particularly.

He followed in his father’s footsteps again, to Purdue University. His father had himself followed his own Aunt Gladys there, with Gladys graduating in 1921 with a degree in Home Economics. Rusty studied civil engineering, and took his status as a second-generation Phi Kappa Psi fraternity brother very seriously. For decades he proudly hung his ΦΚΨ paddles on his office wall and offered to demonstrate how they were used to Melanie and Arthur whenever he deemed it necessary.

His civil engineering degree enabled him to launch his career by designing meat processing plants for the Swift Company in Toronto, Canada, and Glenwood, Iowa. However, perhaps the job he enjoyed the most in the early part of his career was that of Village Manager in Newark, New York.

In 1974 Rusty moved his young family to Glenview, Illinois, to take over the family wooden tank business, Johnson & Carlson, which had been started by his great grandfather and his brothers in 1882. Johnson & Carlson built and serviced many of the ubiquitous wooden water tanks placed on rooftops after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and was the last surviving wooden tank company not only in Chicago, but in the USA.

Rusty loved living in Chicago, and because of his work building, maintaining, and deconstructing the wooden tanks had an encyclopedic knowledge of the city geographically. He was Google Maps for Chicago before there was Google!

Rusty loved the Chicago Cubs. In his mind Chicago only had one baseball team, and he cried tears of joy when they finally won a World Series in 2016. Years before, despite valuing education, he often encouraged Melanie to play hooky from her classes at Loyola University Chicago to join him for an afternoon Cubs game.

Equally if not more proud was he of his son Arthur, following in Rusty’s footsteps to Purdue University and becoming the third generation of both engineers and members of Phi Kappa Psi.

In his thirties, Rusty took up curling, enthusiastically. Which meant the whole family took up curling with various degrees of interest and success. Rusty’s teams won many Bonspiels (as curling tournaments are known) all over the Midwest, qualifying for state finals more than once. Perhaps the best outcome was his and Nancy’s friendship with another curling couple, that led their daughter Melanie to meeting that couple’s son, her future husband Dan.

In 1997, after a particularly cold winter, Rusty and Nancy moved to Ajijic, Mexico. They spent 18 years there, enjoying new friendships which sustained them, and loved hosting family and grandchildren for extended stays at their beautiful compound there.

From Mexico and before as well, Rusty and Nancy traveled extensively, exploring the globe, and especially visiting both Melanie and Arthur and their growing young families, who lived in several countries during those times.

In 2015, Rusty and Nancy relocated to Northern Virginia to spend time with their youngest grandchildren, Lara and Mia. This also gave them the opportunity to visit their three older grandchildren at their respective universities in those years, and later moving on to South Carolina.

Rusty bore his cancer diagnosis with strength and grace, always keeping his sense of humor and love for his family. A celebration of his life will be held in Glenview, Illinois, at a future date, with the interment nearby. Donations in his honor may be made to Crescent Hospice, 1516 East Hwy 501, Suite 101, Conway, SC 29526. www.chafoundation.net/contribute-online

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.leefhandcrematory.com for the Carlson family.