Obituary of Jimmy Arnold II

James (“Jimmy”) Stuart Arnold II  May 21, 1938 - Dec 3, 2023 James Stuart Arnold II (“Jimmy”), 85, of Bradenton Florida, passed away at 11:30 pm on December 3rd, 2023 at his family home in Bayshore Gardens, with his son and family, peacefully in his sleep, after a valiant fight with end-stage renal failure. He was an amazing man and is sorely missed by all who knew him. Jimmy was born on May 21st, 1938 to James Henry Arnold and Doris Frances Kovats of Passaic, NJ. Jimmy was raised under Rev John Keene as a Christian at the West Englewood, NJ “Christ Episcopal Church” where his father Jim was music director. Jimmy loved playing football on his grandpa “Jack”’s front lawn and helping his father and uncle in their bowling alley and pool hall. Around 10 years old, Jimmy and his family moved to La Crescenta-Montrose, California where he graduated from Glendale High School, with honors, as one of only two students to receive a full tuition NROTC scholarship to Yale.  Jimmy won other awards in drama and track and field as well. Jimmy attended YMCA camp his teenage summers in Big Bear and Catalina Island achieving the highest honors as a White “Ragger” to eventually become a camp counselor himself. Jimmy was always adored by children and animals alike, and had a special way with them. His beloved German Shepard “Rexie” was his constant companion and he had a natural gift for training animals. Jimmy went on to study mathematics at Yale, while a Midshipman in the Navy, and served on the USS Boston CAG-1 guided missile cruiser, the state-of-the-art technology for its day. Jimmy worked summers as an actuarial student for Metropolitan Life in New York City, where he met his first wife, Patricia (“Pat”) Immaculata Turi, a graduate of Virginia Intermont. Before graduation, his son, and only child, James Stuart Arnold III (“Jamie”) was born at the Yale Hospital. During his time at Yale, Jimmy sang in the Augmented Seven, the Whiffenpoofs, and the Yale Glee Club, cutting several LP albums holding his picture and name. After graduating with a bachelors in mathematics from Yale, class of 1960, he started as a math teacher at the Menlo School, a private prep school in Menlo California, living on campus housing, coaching track and leading singing groups. Jimmy would work summers as a camp counselor. In 1964, he moved to Haddonfield, NJ to work as an actuary for Penn Mutual in Philadelphia and purchased his first house. In 1967, he moved to Lawrenceville, NJ to teach at the prestigious all-boys preparatory school, “The Lawrenceville School” and lived in various houses on campus, such as the Hamill House, the “Little Red House”, the Lower School dorms, and the house on the golf course by the observatory. Jimmy was house master for the Dickinson, Cleve, and Griswold houses during which time he coached football but predominantly track and field and cross-country events, specializing in the pole vault with Ed Poreda. He also directed the Lawrencian all-boys a-cappella singing group conducting and composing and arranging music, ran the bridge club, co-authored the first computer science textbooks with Bruce Presley and avidly played golf and tennis and snow skied.  He was one of the best educators ever known, loved by all his students. Jimmy was a member of the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church pastored by the late Rev. Dana Fearon III at which he sang in the choir and solos. Jimmy was granted a National Science Foundation scholarship to Bowdoin and graduated number one in his class with a Masters in Mathematics. There at Bowdoin, he studied under, and was class secretary for, the renown topologist and game theorist from Princeton University, Dr. Albert William Tucker whose Klein bottle was always on his desk. Prior to leaving Lawrencville, Jimmy’s amateur avocation of singing and acting grew more momentum performing off-broadway musicals for the Village Players and opera for the Princeton Opera Society. After his re-marriage to Ritchey Nelson Taylor, of Kenosha, WI, he moved to Winter Park, Florida to pursue his acting career professionally. He was in off-broadway musicals such as the 1776 touring show and performed regularly in the “Once Upon a Stage” dinner theater and was in various television commercials as a member of SAG. Later re-marrying to Sylvia Sue Greene, of Meat Camp, NC, he returned to teaching private school at the co-ed Howey Academy in Howey-in-the-Hills Florida living on Picciola Island, but later moved to Bedford, Virginia in order to pursue New Age spiritual interests at the Prema World Community. He lived as a vegetarian, and taught in the public school system for a while as well as acting Vice President of the Pioneer Energy Company, a small renewable energy business ahead of its time. Jimmy and his wife Sue were Shaklee Master Coordinators, owned a small farm with gardens and fruit trees and learned to keep bees, which he was inspired to learn during a Montessori school project of his step-son Joe Royall. Jimmy always had a natural green thumb learning from his mother Doris who raised African Violets adeptly. Soon after, he returned to teach private school again and to coach track at the Virginia Episcopal School (VES) in Lynchburg, VA. Jimmy was involved in the Bedford “Little Town Players” and the Roanoke Opera Society. Jimmy and Sue developed and sold their speed reading course to companies to teach employees how to read fast. Jimmy built a solar greenhouse onto his farmhouse and a root cellar and enjoyed the pastoral life during this period of seeking. Jimmy performed with such well-known artists as Tony Castellano, Sr. Following his third wife, Jimmy moved back to Winter Park, FL to teach math and computer science and coached track at the Trinity Prep School  from which he retired. Jimmy bought a house in Oviedo, FL, and as an active bachelor, enjoyed dating, traveling, whitewater rafting, hang gliding and cave spelunking with his many male buddies. Jimmy was always a “man’s man”, one of the boys and a real charmer and ladies man and loved a good party, wine, beautiful women, music and song. In the Orlando area, Jimmy continued on with singing and performing in operas and theater with the Orlando Opera Society for twelve seasons until they closed and with annual special events after that even directing and producing off-broadway theater at the Mt Dora Ice House Theater.  He later fell in love with and married a former friend and fellow actor in the Bedford, VA, “Little Town Players”,  Terry Campbell and moved back to Lynchburg, VA. He was “Sky Masterson” and she was “Sarah Brown” in the off-broadway musical “Guys and Dolls”. Jimmy continued to raise bees and rabbits and perform in Opera with the Roanoke Opera where I performed in the French L'Opera. Jimmy taught college math part-time at Central Virginia Community College. Jimmy had founded a business in Florida called “Math Doctors” with his son to tutor math. Jimmy was president of the Apple Users Group in Lynchburg and taught his son ( Jamie Arnold aka J.T. Taylor ), step-son ( Joe Royall ) and nephew ( Will Guggenheim ) computer programming, in which all three became leaders of that field. Terry would call him “Sky” and he would call her “Sarah”. This role would embody Jimmy’s natural persona and define him. After his fourth wife, Jimmy moved back to Florida and purchased a house in Apopka, FL. He founded computer consulting business “EaglePower Solutions, Inc.” with his son and kept his hand in mathematics and computer science assisting his son as an actuary for the development of algorithms for such clients as Evangelical Christian Credit Union’s Prosum commercial loan origination software, for University of Central Florida Construction Management software package, and for GameCraft, train-the-trainer casino software. Jimmy was similar to the “Sky Masterson” role he played and always won enough to pay for his trips when going to the casino or dog or horse track. Jimmy had uncanny luck throughout his life. Jimmy continued to tutor math privately on the side and kept involved with music via four-part harmony groups, and small performances here and there during Holiday seasons. Jimmy was a great entertainer and consummate storyteller, especially ghost stories at the camp fireside.  Jimmy placed his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, confessing him as Savior around 1987. Though his faith has wavered at times, his ecclesiastical music composition “Oh Come Let Us Sing” embodies his core faith and we have great hope Jimmy is with the Lord. Jimmy became a very kind man and was always generous to a fault all his life. In mid-2023, Jimmy left Orlando to live in Bradenton Florida with his son and family for his final days. Jimmy was predeceased by his best friend from Yale and brother-in-law, William Guggenheim III. He is survived by his sister, Judith Guggenheim, his four nephews, Will, Chris and Jon Guggenheim, and his son James S. Arnold III (aka J.T. Taylor) and his three grandchildren Elijah and Ezekiel Arnold and Brittany (“Nikki”) Arnold Hall, and his three great grandchildren, Willow Esther Arnold, Jaxon Nial Hall and Ryian Rhys Wawrykiw. Services will be first held at Baldwin Brothers of Bradenton 3825 FL-64, Bradenton, FL 34208 on Friday December 15, 2023 at 2PM to 4PM. A burial service will be held in Forest Hills Cemetery 4016 Tennessee Avenue Chattanooga, TN 37409 on Wednesday December 20, 2023 at 1 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Thorncroft Equestrian Center: https://thorncroft.org/overview-of-giving-options/ . Share your memories at wannfuneralhome.com. Local arrangements are by Wann Funeral & Cremation Center, at the foot of historic Lookout Mountain, St. Elmo (423) 821-7551