Anne R Arnold

Anne Risley Arnold of McLean, Virginia, age 95, died peacefully in her sleep at Vinson Hall Retirement Community on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. She is survived by her loving husband of 69 years, Captain John E. “Jay” Arnold, USN (Ret.), also of McLean, and her two sons, Tom and Dave.

Anne was born on October 28, 1929 in Woodbury, New Jersey, the second of two daughters of John Vaughn Risley and Dora Bertha Wilson. Following her graduation from Woodbury High School in 1947 she attended Peirce School of Business in Philadelphia. Anne was working as a secretary in the personnel office of the Texaco Eagle Point Refinery just outside Woodbury in 1955 when she met her future husband, then Lieutenant Junior Grade Jay Arnold, a naval officer assigned to a ship undergoing overhaul in Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. They married on June 16, 1956 in the Navy chapel at Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia.

Anne and Jay embarked on an adventurous Navy life that took them to duty stations on both coasts of the continental United States, as well as to assignments in Hawaii and Japan. Upon Jay’s retirement as a Captain after 30 years of service they settled in McLean, Viriginia, but also continued to pursue their mutual love of travel by taking dozens of pleasure cruises to far-flung ports around the world for as long as their health allowed. For many years they also wintered three months a year in Florida. Along the way, they made many new friends, courtesy of Anne’s remarkable gift for connecting with people everywhere she went. She was an inquisitive conversationalist, always genuinely interested in other people and their lives and experiences. Her outgoing, fun-loving personality and ability to make fast friends greatly enriched her life and Jay’s. This continued after Anne and Jay moved into the Vinson Hall Retirement Community in 2014.

Anne never forgot her South Jersey roots, spending many years after she and Jay became empty nesters driving from Virginia back home to Woodbury to care for her elderly mother and to work seasonally at the greenhouse of her lifelong friends Russ and Pat Nolte. She also found the time to volunteer at Vinson Hall before becoming a resident there. This reflected her care for and interest in others that she cultivated during her 27 years as a Navy spouse.

Throughout those Navy years she participated in Officer Wives Club activities, including work in support of charitable causes. She also dedicated a great deal of her time to assisting, mentoring and caring for her fellow Navy spouses and junior wives and their families, especially as the wife of the Captain when Jay’s ship was deployed overseas for extended periods of time. Despite this busy life in service of others, Anne’s first priority was always her family. As a Navy wife she not only supported Jay’s itinerant career, that included 15 moves in 27 years, but during his many absences at sea she was the primary caregiver to their two sons, Tom and Dave. Her love, devotion and unselfish support of the boys and Jay represent her most cherished legacy.

Survivors include her husband Jay of Vinson Hall in Mclean; sons, Captain Thomas E. Arnold, USN (Ret.) and his wife Francie of Bainbridge Island, WA, and Captain David R. Arnold, USN (Ret.) and his wife Laurie of Centreville, VA; as well as seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Anne was predeceased by her parents and her sister Jean.

Interment will be at a future date at Arlington National Cemetery, with prior visitation to be scheduled at Murphy Funeral Home, 1102 W. Broad St., Falls Church, VA. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (https://www.breakthrought1d.org).