George Lawrence Arnold

George Lawrence Arnold was born on his family’s farm in Clinton County, outside Kansas City, Missouri in 1942. George graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, Texas in 1960, and he went on to the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master’s degree in advertising and marketing. George, although born in Missouri, was a Texan through and through.

George was married to Mary Arnold (née Turrin) on December 31, 1964. He and Mary were married for 59 years. He loved Mary very much.

George worked as an advertising, marketing and public relations expert in Philadelphia at General Electric, in Dallas at Dallas Power & Light, in Austin at Tracor Computing and then at his own advertising agency from 1973 to 1998. He retired from Evans Group Advertising and Public Relations as President and Chief Operating Officer in 1998, after a 25-year career.

Inducted into the Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame in 2010, George has won many major industry awards for clients such as Tom Thumb grocery stores, TXU Electric and Pilgrim’s Pride chicken.

George is perhaps better known to many as a prolific author, penning more than 26 books spanning genres including children’s literature, fiction, how-to books and personal memoirs. His children’s books, starring a menagerie of adorable cats patterned after his own beloved pets, taught youthful audiences simple phrases in Italian, French, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, German and Portuguese. These books can still be purchased from Barnes & Noble and Amazon. George also wrote 5 mystery books starring detective Craig Rylander. His memoirs include a book about growing up in Texas, that tells touching and often hilarious stories of his time as a youth in Central Texas. He also wrote a memoir about his years as an advertising executive, where he handled clients as diverse as Pilgrim’s Pride Chicken and TXU Electric.

In his writing career, George has been honored with an IPPY Humor Award, the Violet Crown Award for nonfiction and the Texas Public Relations Association’s coveted Silver Spur Award.

George was active in philanthropic work, most notably working for many years with the March of Dimes in their effort to prevent birth defects. He served on the board of Camp Fire, Incorporated. He was also active in the Fredericksburg Rotary Club and volunteered with Mision de Candelilla to bring life-saving medical treatments and infrastructure projects to rural Northern Mexico.

George is survived by his wife Mary Arnold of Dallas, Texas, and four children: Margery Arnold (Matt Clark) of Irvine, California; Molly Branch (Debra Branch) of Dallas, Texas; Sara Sawyer (Greg Sawyer) of Richardson, Texas; and Matthew Arnold of Dallas, Texas. George has seven grandchildren: Hannah Norris of Crandall, Texas; Mariel and Julianne Clark of Irvine, California; Liam and Rowan Sawyer of Richardson, Texas; and Matilda and Isadora Arnold of Dallas, Texas. George is also survived by his brother, Jim Arnold of St. Petersburg, Florida, and his sister Mary Shaw, of Waxahachie, Texas.

Funeral services will be held at 2 pm, Thursday, April 4th at Ted Dickey Funeral Home, 2128 18th Street Plano, Texas.