John David Arms

John was born August 31, 1942 in Clarksville, TN to the parents of John Henry and Bertha (Crawford) Arms. He had three brothers: Ralph, Phillip Wayne and Charles and one sister Martha Sue. All of his siblings have predeceased him except for Charles Arms.

Like many families in Clarksville, TN, the Arms’ family grew and its members never moved away. This was not the case with John or Johnny as his family called him. He wanted to see the world and joined the Army in 1959 at age 17. His first station was 9 miles from home in Ft. Campbell, KY where he drove the chaplain around. He was then sent to Hawaii where he was an ammunition inspector and explosives expert. He met his first wife, Shelby, there. They had three children: Mark David (Deceased), John Darrell and Belinda Ann.

After three years in the Army, John began working for the Civil Service. He lived in TN, IL, KY and in 1974 he moved to Panama Canal Zone. John held several positions in the Canal Zone. The last two were Industrial Hygienist and Hospital Safety and Environmental Manager at Gorgas Hospital. He loved living in the Canal Zone so much he kept extending his time there until he and Priscilla retired in 1993.

John met Priscilla in 1975 and they married on February 6 , 1977. Mark, Darrell and Belinda moved to Panama to live with John and Priscilla in the summer of 1977. This began the start of their blended family with Priscilla’s two sons Danny Watts and Greg Watts. Their ages ranged from 8 to 13 and there was never a dull moment!

John was J.D. to many of his friends. He loved golfing, bowling, coin collecting and deep sea fishing. John and Priscilla loved shih-tzu’s. Snitzel was the family dog in Ft. Clayton, Panama. Later on they got Heidi and Shatzi.

Leaving his love of deep sea fishing behind him in Panama, John & Priscilla retired to Jacksonville, FL in January of 1993 because there were a lot more golf courses than in TN and a lot less snow. John began his retirement job at World Golf where he met lots of celebrities including Bill Murray who owns Caddy Shack. Being the “people” person he was, he never met a stranger and always had “golf” stories to share with whoever would listen.

For vacations and a “break from golf” they enjoyed driving to Biloxi, MS or Cherokee, NC to enjoy slot machines and whatever excitement was going on there.

John and his eldest son, Mark, loved playing golf together. They both made a “Hole-in-One” on the same hole at Fort Amador, Canal Zone. Once Mark got one “Hole-in-One” ahead of his dad, John practiced endlessly to catch up. John had the unique experience to have not ONE but TWO “Holes-in-One” common with his son Mark on the same exact hole. Now that John and Mark are together, the competition will begin again. Who knows who will be ahead a year from now.

May both their souls rest in peace.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations could go to any Veterans Organization.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, August 31, 2025 at 2pm at Hardage-Giddens Mandarin Chapel, 11801 San Jose Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32223.