Arthur Ernest Mussett

Arthur Ernest Mussett passed away Tuesday, March 6th, at Hearthstone Health Campus in Bloomington, Indiana. He was 91. Arthur was born in England at Ewell, Surrey, on March 29th, 1926, to Arthur Frederick John Mussett and Winifred Naomi (Towner) Mussett. In 1927 the family moved to Epsom, where his parents would live for sixty-nine years, and where Arthur attended Pound Lane School and Epsom Central School. After completing his schooling, Arthur trained to be an electrical engineer at Wimbledon Polytechnic Institute and then worked as a lighting engineer for the Edison Swan Electric Company in London. Once old enough to join the war effort, Arthur enlisted in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. He came to the USA for flight training and was stationed at Naval Air Station Bunker Hill, near Peru, Indiana. In the spring of 1945 Arthur would meet his future wife, Dorothy Anne Carson, at an event hosted by the USO in Indianapolis. Arthur had additional flight training at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, but at the war's end he returned to Britain. He remained in the Navy, receiving training as a radar engineer before being stationed at Royal Naval Air Station Anthorn in Cumberland. Upon discharge from the Navy, Arthur returned to Edison Swan, but also sought to broaden his electrical engineering credentials by studying at Northampton Institute in London. In 1952 Arthur came to the USA to accept a position as a sales engineer for the Indianapolis Power and Light Company. In Indianapolis he was reunited with Dorothy and her family, and the couple married in May of 1954. Arthur went on to become a draftsman at the firm of Bevington Taggart and Fowler. He became a United States citizen in 1957, and in 1959 he and two colleagues founded the firm of consulting engineers that is now known as Mussett Nicholas and Associates. For twenty-eight years Arthur and his business partner and friend, Virgil J. Nicholas, worked to build MNA into a respected firm that continues to this day. Arthur retired in 1987, and he and Dorothy moved to Brown County, Indiana. They enjoyed an active retirement, traveling in the USA and in Europe, as well as enjoying the outdoors, and the cultural opportunities in Bloomington and Indianapolis. Arthur was a devoted husband, father, and uncle. He was preceded in death by his mother Winifred (1967), his father Arthur (1996), his stepmother Gladys (1997), his wife Dorothy (2009), and his sister-in-law Alice M. Carson (2012). He is survived by his son, Steven Arthur Mussett of Evansville, Indiana; by his brother-in-law, Raymond E. Carson, Jr. of Duluth, Minnesota; by his three nieces, Mary A. Robison of Jacksonville, Florida, Catherine A. McCarty of Duluth, Minnesota, and Patrica L. Scalzo (Robert) of Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania; and by four grand-nieces and nephews, Rachel Robison, Clara Robison, Sean McCarty, and Samuel Scalzo. In accordance with Arthur's wishes, there will be no funeral. The final months of Arthur's life were made more comfortable through the companionship of public radio. His family invites you to make a donation in his memory to the public broadcaster in your community.