It’s with great sadness we report the passing of AMA member Charles (Charlie) E. Arden, Jr. of Lindenhurst, Illinois. He died unexpectedly on February 19, 2016, at the age of 83.
Charlie graduated from Ithaca High School in 1950. He played basketball and he played the baritone horn in the jazz band. From 1953 to 1955, Charlie served during the Korean War in the Army and was trained as a Radio Operator. He served active duty in the 506th Anti-Aircraft Artillery detachment at Fort Clayton in the Panama Canal Zone, held the rank of Specialist 3rd class, received a Good Conduct Medal, and was honorably discharged. He then attended Cornell University (’55) where he received a B.S. in Agriculture Economics and an M.B.A. in Business and Accounting (’60). While at Cornell, he was reacquainted with a former high school classmate, Marilyn Joan Dyce, from Ithaca, Illinois. The two were married in 1957. After receiving his C.P.A. certificate in 1971, Charlie, his wife Marilyn and their three children, moved from New Jersey to Winnetka, Illinois. While working in Chicago, Charlie was a V.P for the Hackett Corporation and later an executive recruiter and regional sales person for SCS Cases. After 22 years, empty-nesters Charlie and Marilyn moved to Lindenhurst, Illinois, where they enjoyed living on Lake Linden. His loving wife, Marilyn, died in 2007.
Throughout his life, beginning as a child in the 1940s, Charlie enjoyed building and flying tissue and balsa wood free flight and U-control model airplanes. He competed in model aeronautics meets in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois, and was a member of the Chicago Aeronuts model airplane club for many years. An avid history buff, Charlie regularly attended meetings of the Illinois Chapter of the 8th Air Force Historical Society. He also enjoyed golf, boating, reading mysteries and historical books, bird watching, live music, crossword puzzles, and baking delicious homemade pies. He was a long-time fan of the Green Bay Packers and the St. Louis Cardinals.
A devoted father, grandfather, and brother, Charlie will be missed by many who loved him dearly. A memorial service is planned in his honor this summer in Ithaca, New York — date to be announced later. For more information, contact the Ness-Sibley Funeral Home in Trumansburg, NY: 1-888-534-5446 or www.ness-sibley.com.
His family asks those who wish to make a memorial contribution in Charlie Arden’s name to kindly consider donating to the Academy of Model Aeronautics Youth Scholarship Fund.
