Vernon E. Arnold, 86, of Fillmore, California, died peacefully following a long illness on October 15, 2016, attended to by family members and loved ones.
Vern was preceded in death by his parents, Elton and Esther (Schmid) Arnold, and brothers (in order of passing) Dale, Earle, Donald, Roy, and Merle. Roy, and Merle.
He is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Mary Joanne (Paul) Arnold; sons Matthew, Christopher, and Frederick Arnold; daughters-in-law Susan, Noreen, and Stephanie Arnold; grandchildren Noah (and his wife Chrissy), Ethan, Joseph, Brian, Jackson, and Justin; great-grandchildren Aubrey and Brody; sister Mae Curie; sisters-in-law Luella Arnold, Lois Arnold, and Luisella Bovio Arnold; and numerous cherished nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Vern was born in Akron, Ohio on January 28, 1930, and shortly thereafter his family moved to Orrville, Ohio. Vern’s legacy of compassion, empathy and strength of character was forged from early in his youth by the loss of his father, life in depression-era small town America, and then seeing all of five of his older brothers leave home to serve in World War II, including brother Dale who did not return. During his youth in Orrville, Vern loved the outdoors and sports, as he became an Eagle Scout, and played football, baseball and ran track in high school.
Vern was always a tinkerer with radios and other gadgets, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from The Ohio State University in 1955. Later as a young father, he earned a master’s in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California in 1967. Vern served in the U.S. Army for two years concluding in 1957, and after various jobs in different parts of the country, he began a long career as an engineer with the Lockheed Aircraft company in 1960. Vern and Joanne were married in 1963 and lived in Granada Hills, California until 1972, when they moved to Fillmore, California with their three boys. During the 1970s he spent many Saturdays as the volunteer lead for newspaper recycling drives, which raised money for various charities, and in the early 1980s his coaching of youth soccer for his sons led to him to join an adult soccer league as a player himself, with soccer remaining a passion thereafter. After retirement forom Lockheed in 1990, Vern did occasional consulting work, traveled overseas and around the country, taking long driving trips, and otherwise with Joanne spent cherished years in the role of grandparents, complimented by Vern’s hobbies of photography, and computers, Spanish, and a monthly family birthday calendar.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, website alz.org.
A visitation and viewing will be held on Thursday, Oct. 20 from 4pm to 8pm at the Skillin-Carroll Mortuary, 600 Central Avenue in Fillmore. On Friday Oct. 21, at St. Francis of Assisi Church at 1048 W. Ventura St, in Fillmore, a Rosary recitation will begin at 9am, followed by a funeral mass at 9:30am. Burial will follow at Bardsdale Cemetery.