Jack Arnold Had A Love Affair With Spu

Jack Arnold's 55-year commitment to Seattle Pacific University was like a marriage: It took loyalty and flexibility, and honored who he was and what he liked, which was planning events and helping others.

"He has had a staunch love affair with SPU since he was a student," said V.O. "Bud" McDole, chairman emeritus of SPU trustees. "That and with First Free Methodist Church."

When he was named SPU Alumnus of the Year in 1960, Mr. Arnold said he had come to SPU doubting he could finish a single year of college because he suffered from muscular dystrophy. But the faculty was so encouraging that he pledged to help SPU and encourage people with muscular dystrophy to achieve more.

He was a founding member of SPU Credit Union. He led the Alumni Association, and he organized the Century Club to support SPU athletic programs.

Mr. Arnold died Monday (Aug. 31) of what his family believes was a series of strokes. He was 79.

His personality compelled others to befriend him and do things for him - such as build a greenhouse, or, when he was an SPU student, carry him from class to class.

"Jack was 99 percent helpless (but) never complained," McDole said. "He'd say, `If you think I can do that, I'll try to do that.' Jack went salmon fishing - we'd reel in the fish if he got a bite - and he once went down the water slide they used to have at Juanita Beach Park. When we caught him at the bottom, he said, `What a thrill!' "

"You never thought of him as a person in a wheelchair," said his wife of 51 years, Solveig Arnold. "He made people comfortable being with someone in a wheelchair. He used to say, `(The disability) is a bother. But it's just something you work around.' "

Born in Bellingham to an evangelist minister and his wife, Mr. Arnold moved a lot and attended schools from Snohomish to Sunnydale. He graduated from Queen Anne High School in 1937, and from SPU with a bachelor's degree in speech in 1943.

He became an insurance agent, and acquired his home near SPU 48 years ago. He helped young people who stayed there become as open as he was to life's possibilities, said his wife.

"He didn't ever see himself as special or, as so many thought of him, as an inspiration," said Bernard "Bud" Hansen, a former SPU trustee. "He had an unusual way of establishing close relationships with people across a broad spectrum of life."

Other survivors include his children, Dan Arnold of Kennewick; John Arnold of Toledo, Ore.; Vik Arnold of Farmington, Utah; Elizabeth Arnold of New York City; and Rob Arnold of Concrete, Skagit County; sisters Dorothy Seymour of Arlington and Louise Bangasser of Lynnwood; and eight grandchildren.

Services have been held. Remembrances may go to SPU, 3307 Third Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119; First Free Methodist Church, 3200 Third Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119; or Muscular Dystrophy Association, 701 Dexter Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98109.