Son of the Rt. Rev. George Feversham Arnold and Mary Eleanor Sherman Holmes Arnold, he grew up in rectories around the province, including Windsor (where he was born), Mahone Bay, and Halifax, and spent summers at his family’s home in Hubbards, NS. He attended Queen Elizabeth II High School, and graduated from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Science. He completed course work for a Ph. D in Astrophysics at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, before deciding to return to Nova Scotia and the love of his life, Kathryn Boyle Arnold, whom he met in German Class at Dalhousie. They married on October 9, 1971, and John graduated from Dalhousie Law School, second in his class, and clerked for the Supreme Court of Canada the following year.
He worked for the rest of his career at Cox, Downie, Nunn, and Goodfellow (now Cox Palmer), specializing in Wills and Estates, as well as Corporate Law. He was a widely respected authority on Estate Law, active on the Law Reform Commission, with a deeply-held conviction that the law should be accessible to all people without burdensome expense. A passionate advocate of the Plain Language Movement, he worked to make legal documents simpler and clearer, and to make it possible for people to craft their own wills. He was also instrumental in the privatization of the Nova Scotia Power Corporation.
John served the Anglican Church of Canada in many volunteer capacities: as legal counsel and then Chancellor of the Diocese of Nova Scotia for 27 years, and as legal advisor to the Anglican Province of Canada. He sat for many years on the Committee of Consultation and Advice, and was a longtime parishioner and usher at All Saints’ Cathedral. He also lent his time and talents to numerous community organizations, including the endowment fund of the IWK Hospital, the board of the Waegwoltic Club, and as Chair of the Board of the Halifax Grammar School.
Always an adventurer, from the time when he and his best friend Bobbie Huggins bicycled from Windsor to Halifax at age 10 (without telling their parents!), John loved sailing, canoeing, rowing, cycling, motorcycling, and hiking. He spent a memorable summer during college living and working in Germany, and even snuck across the border for a little tent camping in East Germany. Until he was stricken with Parkinson’s Disease in his final years, there was never a day when he was not walking around Halifax, or enjoying the beauty of Nova Scotia in the woods or on the water. From his days in Astrophysics, he kept a life-long love of the wonders of the night sky.
His greatest pride and treasure was always his family: his beloved wife, Kathryn, and daughters Maggie and Mary Kate. He cared faithfully for Kathryn after her diagnosis with Alzheimer’s Disease, walking over to St. Vincent’s to visit her twice every day, for lunch and for dinner, until the day when he walked over with his yoga mat and lay down beside her, and asked if he could stay. They spent the last three years together there, in the same room, looked after by the wonderful staff with so much care and love. They celebrated their 50th anniversary last October.
None of these words can describe what a gift he was to all who knew him: honourable, kind, patient, caring, brilliant and yet profoundly humble. His dry sense of humour was one of his greatest assets, often allowing him to defuse a tense situation or ease an awkward moment with the grace of laughter. The world was a better place while he was in it.
John is survived by his wife Kathryn, daughter Maggie and son-in-law Christopher Brown (Cohasset, Massachusetts), daughter Mary Kate and daughter-in-law Katie Wright (Halifax), and grandchildren Rose and Clara, and step-grandchildren Katy, William, Dorothy, Elizabeth, and Margaret. He joins his parents in Heaven, and his sister Nora Vincent.
All are welcome to attend a funeral service at 4:00 pm on Thursday, March 24, 2022, at All Saints’ Cathedral in Halifax. Burial will be private.
Donations in his memory may be made to St. Vincent’s Nursing Home, 2080 Windsor St., Halifax, https://svnh.ca.
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