James Arnold

James Angus Arnold, 93-year-old Nowata resident, passed away Saturday, March 6, 2010 at the Jane Phillips Nowata Health Center in Nowata, Oklahoma. Mr. Arnold was born January 18, 1917 in Palmer, Texas to Angus Allen Arnold and Alice Mamie Wheeler-Arnold. The family moved to Nowata in 1927 where Mr. Arnold attended grade school and high school. He served as Class President for grades 8th, 9th, 11th, and 12th and graduated with the Class of 1935. Mr. Arnold worked part-time as a clerk in Roy E. Cobbs' Dry Goods while going to school and delivered telegrams for Western Union Telegraph which was then in the Campbell Hotel. After graduation, Mr. Arnold worked a short time for Mr. John C. Dugan, joining the staff of the First National Bank in August, 1935. The Bank was then owned by Mr. H.L. Campbell, Mr. Roy E. Cobbs, Mr. J. Wood Glass, and Mr. J.A. Burns. Mr. H.L. Campbell was then President and later Mr. Cobbs became President. On March 30, 1942, Mr. Arnold enlisted with the United States Navy and served until his discharge on October 25, 1945. He was assigned to the Naval Training Station in San Diego, California as Yeoman 2nd Class and later transferred to Treasure Island and was assigned to the USS Wedderburn DD684 crew as a Plank Member who worked with the Executive Officer in forming the Ship Crew. The ship was commissioned on March 9, 1944 with Commander John L. Wilfong in command. While aboard the Wedderburn, the ship participated in every major operation in the Pacific, including Guam, Iwo Jima, the Phillipines, the Palaus, Yap Island, Leyte, Okinawa, Formosa, raids on Japanese held southern China and French Indochina, and in the invasion of Japan. The ship rescued 19 aviators from the sea and was credited with downing three enemy aircraft, without the loss of a single crew member. The Wedderburn was one of the first destroyers, if not the first to enter Tokyo Bay the morning of August 28, 1945 and remained at the Yokasuka Naval Base for the Surrender Ceremonies. In addition to earning the the Navy Occupation Service Medal, the Wedderburn earned seven Battle Stars on the Asiatic-Pacific Area Service Medal and the Philippine Liberation Medal and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. During service on the Wedderburn, Mr. Arnold advanced from Yeoman First Class to Chief Yeoman and was recommended by the Captain to the Naval Personnel to be commissioned as an Ensign (D) US Naval Reserve. The War ended and Mr. Arnold was discharged from his service. Mr. Arnold returned to Nowata in the fall of 1945 and returned to a position as Assistant Cashier at the First National Bank of Nowata. He was later named Bank Director and served there until November of 1951 when he accepted a job with the Forest Oil Corporation to bring their bookkeeping for this area from Bradford, Pennsylvania to the Nowata office. In May of 1952, Mr. Arnold accepted a position as office manager for the J. Wood Glass Estateand Glass & Reed. Later, he became Co-Executor and Co-Trustee of the H.W. Reed Estate and Trust and the W.W. Warner Estate and Trust in addition to the Glass Estates and Trusts. In 1955 he was appointed to the Board of the Panhandle Producing Company, San Antonio, TX and served as Vice President and Treasurer. When Julian Glass died in February of 1992, Mr. Arnold was named Co-Executor of the Estate of Julian W. Glass, Jr. and Executor of the estates of Eva Payne Glass and Ernest Frances Bradfield. In February of 1992, Mr. Arnold was named Trustee of the Glass-Glen Burnie Foundation, and was currently serving as Co-Operating Trustee. He also served on the Board of the Glass-Glen Burnie Museum, Inc. in Winchester, Virginia. Mr. Arnold was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Nowata, the Newton Martin McKeller Post 101 of the American Legion, and Ballard-Lack Post No. 2745 of the Veteran's of Foreign Wars. He served as President of the local chapter of the American National Red Cross, worked with American Cancer Society, with the Boy Scouts of America where he served as Assistant Scout Master for the local troop, and he also helped to organize the first Nowata Junior Chamber of Commerce and acted as Secretary-Treasurer. Mr. Arnold served as the former Director of the Victory National Bank of Nowata, as President and member of the Nowata General Hospital Board, and President and member of the Board of Directors for the Nowata City-County Library. He has also served as a board member and Treasurer of the Nowata County Historical Society, and as a board member for the Tulsa Opera, Inc., the Tulsa Philharmonic, and the Tulsa Ballet Theatre. Mr. Arnold has supported Nowata County 4-H Clubs and Nowata Fair Board Activities for many years and has sponsored an annual $1000.00 Oklahoma Heritage Scholarship that is given to a Nowata County student since 1994. Mr. Arnold was awarded the Nowata Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Award in 1994. In November of 2007, he was awarded the Julian Wood Glass Jr. Distinguished Service Medal by the Museum of Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia. In January of 2010, Mr. Arnold was awarded the Life Time Achievement Award by the Nowata Chamber of Commerce and presented the donor and supporter award by the Lincoln School Reunion Committee and Alumni Association. Mr. Arnold is preceded in death by his parents, Angus Allen Arnold and Alice Mamie Arnold; by brothers, Algernon Wheeler Arnold, Lawrence Brooks Arnold, Clarence Gilbert Arnold, William Mitchell Arnold; and by a niece, Anita Arnold Zeigler. Mr. Arnold is survived by his best friend, Raymond Michael Cline; by nephews, John McCracken Arnold and wife Susan, Dan Cooper Arnold and wife Lani, Andrew Taylor Arnold and wife Libba, Robert Brooks Arnold; by nieces, Linda Arnold Stenseth, and Sally Arnold Swanson and husband Richard; great-nieces, Karen Beall and husband Price, Dana Arnold and Steve Pluta, Pamela Pistilli, Shannon Wells and husband Andrew, Debbie Wacker and husband Dustin, Katie Swanson, Whitney Arnold, and Mari Arnold; and great-nephews, Andrew Gilbert Arnold, Chris Swanson and wife Brenda, and Ken Arnold; great-great-nieces, Grace Rodgers Beall, Eliza Jane Cooper Beall, Ava, Brooke, and Autumn Wacker, and Kirsten Swanson; great-great nephew, Anthony Cooper Pluta; and cousin, Clifford Taylor and wife Mildred of Ennis, TX.

Service Details

Thursday, March 11th, 2010 10:00am, First United Methodist Church Nowata

Interment Details

Nowata Memorial Park Cemetery