In his youth, he spent many days in Elkin and Jonesville. His funeral will be Thursday, Sept. 9, at Money & King-Vienna Funeral Home in Vienna, Va. Burial will follow in National Memorial Park, Fall’s Church, Va.
He was born Oct. 1, 1931 and was four when his 24-year-old father, Ralph Arnold, Sr., an early member of the N. C. State Highway Patrol, was killed Sept. 17, 1936, while patrolling on motorcycle in eastern North Carolina. His mother, Lucille Mathis Arnold Seigel, of McLean, Va., died Jan. 30, 2010, this year. She was 97. He was also predeceased by his brother, Ralph Arnold Jr., and his stepfather, Albert Seigel.
His grandparents were the late Sidney and Alice Arnold and John Wesley and Florence Mathis of Elkin.
He is survived by an aunt, Wilda Mathis Humphries of Memphis, Tenn., and an aunt-in-law, June Mathis of Bowie, MD; and a number of cousins.
After graduation in 1950 from Anacostia High School in Washington, D.C., Arnold joined the U.S. Air Force and became an air controller, serving four years, including duty at Orly Field in France. As a veteran, he became a cab driver in the District of Columbia. Among the famous who caught a ride with him was Former President Harry S. Truman. He never married. He discovered his main interest in life was computers and found a position as a computer specialist with the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the U. S. Department of the Navy, serving until his retirement.
He loved fresh water fishing, especially along the Potomac. His home was at 203 Yoakum Parkway, Apartment 1202, Alexandria, Va. 22304. With his recent decline in health, he returned to North Carolina to be near his special cousins, Sam and Virginia Ligon of Winterville, near Greenville, and only last week enjoyed going out for a dish of watermelon at the K&W Cafeteria. A month ago when asked if he would like to return to North Carolina to recuperate, his response was, “Yep! The earlier, the be
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