Gerald Francis (Gus) Arnold passed away at age ninety-five on Monday, February 17, 2025, in Chesterton, Indiana. He was a man who loved to work with his hands, but who went far beyond the mere mechanicals to spend his life building up the people he found around him. Born in Cherokee, Oklahoma, on April 15, 1929, as the fourth son of Ray and Bernice Arnold, he was quick to learn the values of independence and hard work. After the family moved to south Puget Sound in 1938, he found the hills and bays around his new home to provide for endless adventure. He launched from home while still a teenager, working hard, attending school, and finally earning a degree in electrical engineering from John Brown University.

Gus married Glenna Arnold on June 2, 1951. She remarked at the time that if she married Gus, she would see the world—and it was true! Their life together wound from the woods of the Pacific Northwest to the steel mills of Chicago, a family farm in Michigan, mission work in Irian Jaya (now Papua), Indonesia, and back to the Northwest, followed by a working retirement in Arizona and
Michigan. Along the way, Gus was always building. He enjoyed working with his hands, so that around the world today there are homes and offices, schools and churches that he brought into being. He not only erected the edifices, he also built up the organizations that occupied them, always wanting to see them grow and flourish. But most important, he loved to build up people. He encouraged the faint, challenged the faltering, and strengthened the faithful. This was where he found his greatest joy.

Gus and Glenna celebrated 71 years of marriage before her passing on January 2, 2023. Their children are Gwen (married to Michael), Gordon (married to Ester), Gary (who preceded them in death at age six), and Gene (married to Jennifer). Gus had great joy in his ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. In addition, there are many Irian Jaya missionary kids who still fondly call him “Uncle Gus.”

Gus’s greatest wish in life was for others to know his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Therefore, the family invites those who might wish to give a gift in his memory to do so with one of the many good mission organizations ministering to those at the ends of the earth.