Lloyd was born on August 26, 1949, to Lloyd B. Arnett and Constance A. Arnett, in Fairmont, West Virginia. From a young age, Lloyd harbored a passion for theatre which endured throughout his life and was the focus of much of his professional career and volunteer work. When reflecting on his legacy, Lloyd described himself as, “…an artist and Christian Humanist scholar, playwright, director, and dramaturg.” He spent many years studying theatre, performance, and playwriting, and graduated from theatre programs at Fairmont State College, where he completed his MA (1983), and the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his PhD in Theatre Arts (1997).
In 1983, Lloyd married his wife Beth at the Church of the Ascension, in Pittsburgh, PA. In 1988, they welcomed their oldest daughter, Claire, and their younger daughter Emily was born shortly after the family moved to Abbotsford, BC. During this time, Lloyd began working for the Theatre Department at Trinity Western University in Langley, where he spent the rest of his professional career teaching playwriting, directing performances, publishing his own plays, and being an involved member of TWU’s Theatre Department until his retirement in 2019. Lloyd also spent many years guest lecturing about theatre at other institutions of higher learning and volunteered with Gallery 7 Theatre & Performing Arts in Abbotsford.
Besides his family, Lloyd’s great passion was his Anglican faith, and he played an important role in the Church of the Holy Cross where he acted as the People’s Warden, served on the church board, and was a dedicated member of the congregation. Although he had many career accomplishments, Lloyd considered the generations of students in whom he was able to nurture a passion for Christian theatre to be among the greatest aspects of his professional and spiritual legacy.
In his own words, Lloyd’s interests included, “photography, a music collection (classical and jazz), my library, reading theology, haunting antique, thrift, and book shops, and going to theatre (especially London theatre). Major life commitments are my wife and daughters and being a Christian Humanist theatre scholar.” Lloyd was also a passionate Steelers fan and spent many Sunday afternoons watching football. After his retirement, Lloyd was able to pursue his passion for travel and photography, and most recently traveled to Italy. A self-professed ‘gearhead’, Lloyd loved collecting and restoring vintage cameras, attending men’s breakfast, and going on nature walks with friends from the Church of the Holy Cross.
Lloyd was predeceased by his father Lloyd B. Arnett and his mother Constance A. Arnett. He is survived by his wife Beth Arnett, his daughter Claire Arnett, his daughter Emily Rempel, and his sons-in-law, Hector Ivan Godoy Priske and Nathan Rempel. Services will be held at Grace Church (2087 McMillan Road) in Abbotsford on Saturday April 20, 2024, at 1:00pm.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, and the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)
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