Arlette Mildred Stanecker

Arlette M. Stanecker went to be with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 after a long and devastating battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was the loving wife of Lawrence (Larry) for 32 years. Arlette was born January 4, 1933 in Oceanside, NY and spent the last 21 years as a resident of Goode, VA. She attended Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lynchburg. She was the daughter of the late Arthur and Dorothy Silberbauer. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her late husband of25 years, Carl H. Arp. Arlette is survived by two daughters, Ruth Johanna Arp Stein and her husband Mike of Sound Beach, NY and Christine Mohr of Huntington, NY as well as her son C. Peter Arp and his wife Suzanne also of Huntington and her step son Col. Paul Muller USMC and his wife Heidi of Alexandria, VA. Also surviving her are eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren: Carl and Kurt Tenzler, Sonja Tenzler Wessels, Dane and Eric Johnson, Gillian Mohr, Elisabeth and Christian Arp, Alexander and William Tenzler all of whom reside on Long Island NY. She graduated from Oceanside High School and enrolled in the three year nursing program at Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, NY which prepared her to obtain her Professional Registered Nurses License. She worked was an R.N. in various departments in hospitals in New York. Looking to further her education, she entered the BSN program at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Later she attended Long Island University's C. W. Post Center where she obtained a Master of Professional Studies degree. Having her Master's degree, she was offered a position with the Suffolk County Board of Cooperative Educational Services teaching an adult Licensed Professional Nurses class. She spent over twenty years in this position and upon retiring, moved to VA with her husband. Arlette's life long passion has been music beginning when she joined the Treble Choir at her church at age eight. She has been a member of a church choir ever since, where because of her range, she could sing either soprano or alto. In high school she played piano and timpani in the school orchestra. Frequently a vocal soloist would request that she be their accompanist. While still in high school she began an informal girl's octet that sang acapella. Following retirement and moving to VA, she joined the FACination Chorus at the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center. She sang with them long after their playhouse was razed to make way for a parking lot. One day she heard about the Hill City Chorus, the Lynchburg chapter of Sweet Adeline's International. She had always been fascinated with the unique barbershop arrangement and jumped at the opportunity to join them. She sang with both the chorus and a newly formed quartet until their numbers decreased to the point that they could no longer renew their charter. In addition to music, Arlette enjoyed cooking and camping, beginning with tents, followed by pop-ups, a standard tow behind trailer and ending with a 32 foot 5th wheel trailer. She spent much of her adult life serving others. When her family was young she joined them in Brownies followed by Girl Scouts. When she met Larry, who was active in Cub Scouts, she joined him. She manned the First Aid Station at numerous Cub Scout functions and served as a Merit Badge Councilor for First Aid and several health related merit badges. Many years ago, while still living in NY, she was one of the founding members of the Huntington Community First Aid Squad and was given Badge #12. She is certified by the American Red Cross as an instructor in both first aid and CPR. Before leaving Long Island the Squad awarded her Life Membership for her many years of faithful service. When she met Larry she discovered that in addition to his involvement in Cub Scouting, he was a licensed Amateur Radio Operator, his special interests being emergency and community service communication. She tagged along with him to many walk-a-thons as well as the L.I. Marathon. At some point she realized that this activity was a perfect fit with her medical training and began studying for her own Amateur Radio License. After passing the required exam she was assigned the call sign KB2HBN and currently holds a General Class License. After arriving in VA and joining the Lynchburg Amateur Radio Club, she discovered that the club supported several walk-a-thons as well as the Winter Special Olympics at the Wintergreen Ski Resort and the VA Ten Miler, all of which she participated in. When she arrived in VA she anticipated teaching nursing part time and to that end, obtained her VA R.N. license. When she learned what nurses are paid, she indicated that she had no intention of working for peanuts and volunteered at The Free Clinic of Central VA in Lynchburg for over fifteen years until her Alzheimer's progressed to the point that she could no longer perform her duties. For the last four or five years, she joined forces with Dr. Bob Richards and became his R.N. whenever he volunteered. In consideration of the many years of faithful service to the Free Clinic, she was presented with The Karen Goodwin Volunteering Excellence Award prior to her leaving. In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation in Arlette's memory to The Alzheimer's Association 1160 Pepsi Place Suite 306 Charlottesville, VA 22901. The family will be receiving friends at Whitten Funeral Home Timberlake Chapel from 6-8 p.m., Monday, October 22, 2012, at Whitten Timberlake Chapel. A memorial service will be held at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 7336 Timberlake Road, Lynchburg, 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 23, 2012 with the Rev. Hank Boschen officiating.