Richard (Dick) Alan Arnold

Richard (Dick) Alan Arnold of Houston, TX died August 23, 2012. He was born on October 25, 1926 in Huntsville, Ohio, the son of Eber J. and Leona (Holaday) Arnold. His parents were graduates of Wilmington College in Ohio, and his father earned graduate degrees at The Ohio State University (OSU). He was well known in Ohio public education circles.

Dick was a graduate of Columbus North High School and OSU, where he received Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and Master of Business Administration degrees. He was elected a member of Texnikoi Fraternity, an Engineering honorary fraternity, while at OSU. He served in The Chemical Corps, during the Korean War.

Dick was preceded in death by his first wife of 38 years, Betty Jean (Goss) Arnold, his parents, two brothers, one sister, and his wife of 7 years, Bennie Ruth Arnold. Also, surviving him are his daughter Rebecca Jean Forsyth of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and her husband Elliot, son James Wesley Arnold, his wife Sharon and her two daughters of Coppell, Texas, four grandchildren, one great grandchild, and Bennie’s three sons and their families.

Dick was well respected in market research, new business development and corporate planning areas of the chemical and petroleum industries, having held important positions at DuPont, Sohio, B.F Goodrich and Pennzoil, in Houston, where he retired in 1986 as Senior Vice President, Development for Pennzoil Products Company, for which he consulted for five years thereafter. Dick was active in officer positions in five professional associations and was President of The Commercial Development Association.

Over the years, he was a firm supporter of Ohio State’s Chemical Engineering and MBA departments. Mr. Arnold made a sizeable donation to the construction of the New Koffolt Laboratory while serving on the National Organizing Committee which raised money for funding the new science building. Ground breaking for the building took place on July 18, 2012.

Dick was very active in the Presbyterian Church, USA- six churches in the USA and tow overseas churches in Iran and Brazil, where he was Managing Director of two B.F. Goodrich subsidiaries. He was an Elder and Officer in four of these churches. He traveled extensively and especially loved their summer home at the Chatauqua Institution in western New York. Dick spent over 50 years in various church choirs and had a keen appreciation for classical music. He was a lifetime member of the Ohio State President's Club. Dick was awarded the College of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2004.

Memorial services will be held Friday August 31, 2012 in the Chapel of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, 11612 Memorial Drive, Houston at 2:00pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church general Memorial Fund or specially designated to “Bennie’s Eyes Fund”, a special memory fund set up through MDPC upon Bennie’s death to support reading instruction in our public schools.