William Glenn Arnold Jr.

One of the last “Old Boulder” business and civic leaders died on January 9, 2023. William G. "Bill" Arnold, Jr. was born November 16, 1928 in Boulder, Colorado. He was the son of William G. Arnold Sr. and Louise Gibson Arnold. At age 15, he met, and later married in Boulder, the love of his life, Frances Chisholm. They were married 54 years until Fran’s passing. They had 3 children; Bill, Debi and Stan. He attended Boulder schools and graduated with a degree in business from the University of Colorado.

He and his family owned Arnold Bros. Ford. The name Arnold and Ford were linked in Boulder history for more than 50 years (1926-1978). In 1974 he started Eastpark Associates, a commercial real estate investment company in Boulder, along with his three children. Eastpark is now run by his two sons.

Bill was a man who, as Laurie Paddock (past editor/owner of the Boulder Daily Camera) once said, turned his 'wild exuberance' into community service. "Bill has made a second career of being presidents of various organizations and a super salesman for them for many years". He was president of the Boulder Jaycees, Boulder YMCA, Junior Achievement, and Boulder Amateur Wrestling Association. He participated and/or led in more than two dozen financial drives for various betterment projects in Boulder, including a Community Hospital Fund Drive, annual Pow Wow and United Way fund drives. He chaired capital fund campaigns to build the YMCA's original Mapleton facility, the Boulder County Mental Health facility on North Broadway, and the University of Colorado's Second Century Campaign which included construction of an Events-Conference Center and renovation of CU’s Old Main building. Providing for his community’s youth was deeply imbedded in his desires and beliefs. He was a founder of Boulder’s baseball Pony League, and sponsored many youth baseball, football and basketball teams in Boulder County. In 1960, he was a member of Boulder’s City Charter Revision Committee and the Mayor's Committee on water conservation. He was a member of the Boulder Tomorrow steering committee which, among other things, worked on the creation of Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall. In 1962, he was deeply honored to receive the state’s Junior Chamber Of Commerce Distinguished Service Award. In 2016 he was inducted into the Boulder County Hall of Fame. He was a member of the board of directors for the National Automobile Association, the Colorado Automobile Association, and the First Christian Church of Boulder. He lettered in sports at the University of Colorado becoming a member CU’s C-Club, proudly wearing his black and gold up to the day he passed. He was a life-long member of the Rotary and Elks clubs, and a member of the Boulder High School Vintage Panther Club and Boulder’s Grace Commons Presbyterian Church.

Bill was an ambassador of joy, comfort, and love in every community he ever lived in. He loved to sing and to play the piano and his harmonica. He was an extremely gregarious man and loved engaging with people from every walk of life. He had a strong faith in God, and faithfully lived the last part of his life in the loving service of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

He is survived by his two sons, Bill (Cathy) and Stan (Jennifer), his daughter Debi Arnold Hopkins, his ex-son-in-law Bill Hopkins, 9 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Most surviving members of his family live in the Boulder County area. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Fran, his brothers Sandy and Pat, and his sister Sally Streamer.

A memorial service will be held at the Grace Commons Presbyterian Church in Boulder at 11:00 am on Saturday, January 21. A private family grave-site service will precede the memorial. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to TRU Community Care or the Boulder Valley YMCA.

Our family wants to express our heartfelt gratitude to the wonderful people at Balfour in Louisville and TRU Hospice for the comfort, care and love they gave to our dad and our family. Our community is very fortunate to have such caring individuals living and working within it.

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