Larry Dean Arnold was born on August 9, 1943 in Birmingham, Alabama to Thomas Benton Arnold, who would soon join the US Army and see action in Europe as a gunnery sergeant in World War II, and Eugenia Marie Williams Arnold, who had been a ranger in a national forest as a teenager. Both had just finished high school.
Larry passed away on September 21, 2018 in Scottsdale, Arizona. September 21 is also his father’s birthday.
Larry was intensely loyal to his family. He never married or had children of his own, so a new family missed learning how deep that loyalty could be.
A Life: Firmus et Fidelis
Larry was a track star and popular student in high school, and following the excitement of the new “space age” in the early 1960s, he entered college to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering. His call to service in the Vietnam period switched him to a 4-year career in the U.S. Air Force. He was fortunate to spend the first two years at the “best AFB in the world” (Luke Air Force Base in Arizona) assigned to Base Operations, 56th Squadron. He spent the remainder of his time at Andersen AFB on the island of Guam in Air Traffic Control. He directed arrivals and departures of all aircraft reaching the base. Larry had the early distinction of being promoted to Staff Sergeant (SSGT) during his 4-year enlistment. After his Honorable Discharge from the Air Force in 1971, Larry resumed his engineering degree, completing his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering.
With the degree finally completed, Larry began working for several major engineering companies in different states before deciding to settle back in Arizona which he had come to love from his days at Luke AFB. He convinced his family to move there, too. After tiring of engineering, Larry became a civil servant with the US Postal Service in Phoenix, Arizona and worked there diligently for nearly 32 years before retiring.
Larry always loved to travel, especially by car, and took many long trips across America. He also often enjoyed the opportunities to tour many places in Asia during his time on Guam. He loved to take photos of nature in all the places he visited, with waterfalls being the most treasured. He often went out of his way to find a waterfall.
He loved music and fashioned himself as a pretty good singer. He became interested in karaoke during his time in the Air Force. He also enjoyed reading the local newspapers section by section and rarely missed a day over much of his adult life.
Larry lived a simple and very decent life, enjoying time with his family above all else. He cared about things much more deeply than he would often express. He had so much quality seemingly locked inside.
So his is another example of a noble, but quiet life that will not make the history books or have monuments erected to him outside his burial site, but that generated a positive energy while doing God’s work every day in the purest way. May he rest in peace.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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