Willard Dale Arnquist

Wilard Dale Arnquist was born on January 22, 1919 in Hoffman, Minnesota to Alma and Victor Arnquist. His mother was Norwegian, his father Swedish. He was born at home, on the family farm, joining Sister Carmen and Brothers Lester and Russell.

Willard was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church

He was salutatorian of the Hoffman High School class of 1936, graduating at age 17..

He attended Minnesota School of Business in Minneapolis and helped manage the family business, Arnquist dairy, before entering the United States Army in the first draft at age 22.

Willard served as a medical administrative officer during WWII, in the Pacific Theater, in Australia and the Philippines. He didn't talk much about his experiences, but we're sure he saw a lot of suffering. He was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Theater ribbon with 2 battle stars, Philippine Liberation ribbon with 1 battle star, American Theater ribbon, American Defense ribbon, Victory Medal World War II, Good Conduct Medal and Meritorious Service Unit Plaque.

After returning from the war, he went on a blind date in Hoffman on New Year's Eve 1945 with local hometown beauty, Lois Virginia Waller. Nine months later, they were wed on September 1, 1946 They were married over 63 years.

The newlyweds moved to Moorehead, Minnesota, while Willard attended North Dakota State School of Engineering in Fargo. Willard and Lois' first born son, Steven Lee Arnquist was born on January 30, 1948 in Fargo. Lois remembers that the temperature was minus 30 degrees that day.

When Steve was just a year old, the only grandchild on both sides of the Arnquist and Waller families, the new family moved across the country to Seattle Washington, where Willard began his 35 year engineering career with the Boeing Company in June of 1949.

Greg was born at the New Renton Hospital on February 7, 1951. Everyone was happy to have another boy added to the family.

Willard (or Arnie as was his nickname at work) continued to enjoy engineering at Boeing, and was the recipient of design control patent awards. He worked on the B47,, 707, 727, 737, 747, and 767 models. He was at Boeing during the "if it ain't Boeing, I ain't going" era. He managed to survived 35 years without having to personally experience a layoff, although we held our breath since other families all around us were experiencing layoffs. Willard maintained a good work record, but, we all remember the billboard in the early 70's "will the last person leaving Seattle, please turn off the lights".

Through his years at Boeing, Willard sustained some lifelong friendships, including Dieter and Gisela Hoener and Bill and Solvie Nelson - whom he met in college, and Otis and Virginia Van Aiken - and many others, including one of his favorite bosses, George Allen.

The Arnquist family was one of many Boeing families who were transferred to Wichita, Kansas. This was long enough for daughter Julie to be born. Lois remembered that the temperature was 114 degrees that June the 12th.

Returning to the temperate Pacific Northwest - to Bellevue - Willard and Lois watched their house being built and moved into their Lake Hills Home in 1956 The Arnquist family was one of the original members of the Samena Swim Club. Dad would drive and we kids used to ride down to the pool on the open tailgate of the station wagon - no one knew about seat belts in those days"

That home in Bellevue provided - by coincidence - a great choice in neighbors! Who would have know that 50 years later, we are still enjoying so many close friendships - with Dick and Koppie Arneson and their kids, Arthur, Mary, Jane, Donald, Kris and Richard, the Lemon's and their kids - Arlys, Kathy and Bruce - the Lessee's directly across the street - the Van Horns - the Wallaces

Always the engineer - Dad created two projects for the family that stand out to this day. One was a car top carrier for our station wagon to hold all our luggage on many cross country trips to Minnesota. We are sure that the carrier was designed for efficient air flow, reducing gasoline usage. If you can imagine, we usually drove straight through the night with all five of us and a full sized Samoyed dog - these trips were in the middle of summer heat without air conditioning.

Another one of Dad's woodworking projects that stands out in our collective memory is the ping pong table he built, which provided innumerable hours of enjoyable for family and guests alike. It was of course, engineered to be absolutely level ... and it could be enjoyed rain or shine. Willard held his paddle with two fingers wrapped around the handle, paddle pointed down and he loved to slam the ball.

Willard was a man of few words. But, if his kids were curious, dad was happy to teach about aerodynamics or physics. He helped with mathematics homework. He loved his slide-rule, the main tool of the engineer. Who can operate one of those these days?

Dad enjoyed some gardening. He knew some auto mechanics and changed his own oil. He had a photographic dark room and enlarged the black and white photos he took. He read the newspaper when he came home from work and the kids were supposed to be quiet. He suffered from migraines. He preferred horseshoes, crossword puzzles and chess. Willard as a tough opponent to beat at chess He taught the kids and most of the grandchildren to play it.

After 35 years in a serious role at Boeing, it took dad a little while to get used to the new relaxed style his 26 years of retirement would bring. He was a serious person most of the time, but could be witty and funny - sometimes at the most unexpected times. He liked to rhyme.

He really began to understand children when he was retired and had time to enjoy grandchildren. He would often be the grandparent meeting Angela, Tyler and Wesley after school, or spending the day with them on days when they didn't have school, or getting them off to school in the morning. He didn't miss a graduation or a celebration.

He was instrumental in Charlie and Jason's day to day care when life fell apart for their mother. He learned more about being a dad by being a grandfather. He loved hearing from Stevie and looked forward to his visits. He loved hearing from all of the other grandchildren near and far and attending weddings and celebrations in their lives when he could

We know he loved us and was proud of us, but because of his reserved Scandinavian upbringing and his logical engineering training he wasn't very good at expressing mushy sentiments to each f us. He did however find ways to tell other people how proud he was of each of us, and how much he loved us

He was a man with pride. He would never open the front door without combing his hair. But, as we all know, he kept that comb-over long after he fooled anyone.

Dad struggled with memory loss. He tried to hide it as long as he could. But, the telltale signs started to give him away.

When it eventually became too worrisome to be on his own, we were fortunate to have the skilled services and staff of Sunrise Assisted Living of Bellevue to turn to..

Dad was happy and well cared for. He was busy all of the time. Many of his caregivers expressed their sorrow at Dad's passing with stories and memories. One particular one stands out from Alama, one of his main care managers - she tells of how one morning when she gave him his reminder to brush his teeth, he came out of the bathroom with toothbrush and toothpaste in hand and handed it to Alama and said "All this time you have been telling me to brush my teeth, I have never ONCE seen you brush yours!" It was typical Dad.

Sunrise staff were skilled in their abilities to redirect him. He was happy like a kid singing and playing there He was able to enjoy his last days in comfort and style. The family wishes to thank the Sunrise staff here today that helped make his last few months happy.

We are fortunate to have had so many years with dad. Even so, we never expected the last day to come so suddenly. We will miss him.