Arthur Louis Lenahan Jr.

Arthur Louis Lenahan, Jr., 69, passed away on July 22, 2022, due to Covid-19. As Alzheimer’s disease dimmed the last years of his life, he lived increasingly and joyfully in the moment, delighting in the people around him.

Art was the first-born son to Arthur and Betty Lenahan on October 19, 1952, in Anchorage, Alaska. He and his parents settled in Jacksonville, Florida, where he grew up alongside four siblings. An individualist from an early age, he often sought solitude and independence. As a child he is pictured dressed as a cowboy; while the costume changed over time, his attitude never did.

Art’s uncle, Bob Lenahan, taught him to fly planes at the age of thirteen. He flew all over the country in his Cessna: chasing antelope in Colorado, taking his sisters to college, following the endless horizon off the ground. Of all pastimes, he loved flying most and dreamed of becoming a pilot. Even after he lost language in his twilight years, he pointed to each airplane overhead and followed it across the sky.

Art graduated in 1975 from the University of Alabama, where he studied mechanical engineering and belonged to a fraternity often compared to Delta Tau Chi in the 1978 movie, Animal House. He connected there with his lifelong spouse, Deborah, while playing frisbee. Shortly after, his sister, Abbigail, died suddenly of a hereditary heart disease that eventually claimed his remaining siblings: Carl and Suzanne in 1984, and Bettyann in 2014. These losses shaped his adult life and gave him a deep appreciation of presence in each moment.

Art found joy in the sky and on the ground. He loved a good conversation with friends and posing questions without answers; his dogs; motorcycles; Clint Eastwood films, John Wayne, and other Westerns with or without cowboys; yoga, meditation, and breathing practice; wilderness, the Grand Canyon most of all; and his family. He is loved and remembered by his wife, Deborah, and two children, Arthur III and Kate.

A survivor and cowboy, Art sought freedom from the ground, from expectation, from his body. He was not afraid of death, and follows now his parents and four siblings. He returns to the earth, rock, life, water, and sky unbounded and at peace.

A celebration of his life will be held in 2023 in Grand Junction, Colorado. Please reach out directly to Deborah Lenahan for details. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association or the Grand Canyon Trust.