Arnold John Perry

Arnold John Perry was born in Cambridge, NB on December 17, 1932 to Myrtle and Russell; he was a brother to Paul and Marion (Johnston). In his first 10 years, winters were spent cutting wood in a logging camp where his mother was the camp cook and his father and the boys worked in the woods (logging). A well known “devil” during his school years, he always talked about how he had to ski miles to school, “up hill both ways” and it was said that he skied under the school teacher’s legs on his way to school. In the one-room schoolhouse it was his job to stoke the fire so there would be heat when the rest of the children arrived. When he was 10 years old his sister Marion was born. His mother and father worked in the fields and he babysat his sister whenever he could to get out of working in the fields. Unbeknownst to their parents, the boys loved to make fudge with the war-rationed sugar. One time, when their parents came home early they hid the fudge outside and the dog ate it and of course got sick.

His brother joined the Navy at the age of 18, so in August of the next year, at the age of 17, Arnold left Cambridge and went to Saint John, lied about his age and joined the Navy. He was a wild skinny young man with legs that looked like sticks. He was an engineer by trade so spent many of his navy years at sea, In the early 1950’s his parents moved to Charlottetown where his father worked for Canada Packers. On his time off from the Navy, Arnold visited them in PEI and in 1952, at a St. Patrick’s Day dance, met the love of his life – Stella. Loved blossomed and the next year Arnold and Stella got married and moved into a tiny apartment in Halifax. A year later, and after his first promotion, they welcomed their first daughter. Thereafter, with every promotion came another daughter, until by 1967 there were four – Darlene, Carolyn, Gale and Janice.

Navy life meant numerous family moves, including two Quebec towns, Saint John, several times in Halifax and a final navy move to Ottawa. His navy years were very eventful- from waterskiing in Puerto Rico, to attending Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation, to getting his leg broken. One of the best navy stories concerned that broken leg which happened when a plug in a pressurized machine blew out and hit him in the leg. He called Stella from the hospital, under the influence of pain medication and when she asked what had happened he told her he had shot himself. She in turn thought he was at the tavern and hung up on him. A couple of hours later, when the medication wore off, he called her again and was then not quite so jovial and convinced her that he had actually broken his leg. He was in a cast up to the hip for months and discovered a new hobby: Paint by Numbers.

 Family summers were spent camping – from two months in a tent in Quebec, to tent trailers in PEI to a 24 ft PMC travel trailer at the Micmac Trailer Park at the Narrows. Always “up” for anything, Arnold made many campfires, had lots of fun mini-biking and fishing, loved waterskiing and driving the boat while others skied. He was a great gardener – and grew many fresh vegetables over the years and he loved them all as did all who were lucky enough to get the extras.In later years, one of his great passions was woodworking. Initially he did the finishing work on pieces made by his uncle and in later years, with outstanding workmanship, he made many pieces for everyone in the family. These included everything from wine racks to desks, coffee tables, shelves, china cabinets and his most recent favorites – clocks – 35 at last count. He was always ready to lend a hand fixing whatever needed fixing. We can’t remember much he couldn’t fix – he was a jack-of-all-trades. In 1992, Stella and Arnold began wintering in Florida. A few years later they bought their winter residence in Woodhaven Estates in Florida, where they made many friends. He loved playing shuffleboard and his competitive nature always came through in any game he played, especially at cards. The family has many memories of trying to beat Grampie at cards. As they grew up, all the grandchildren joined the card table and tried to beat him. He actually played cards this Christmas and as usual, he won.

Arnold was a great family man and was always very proud of his girls  4 daughter, 5 granddaughters and one great granddaughter.

Arnold Perry was born in Cambridge on December 17, 1932; he was the son of the late Russel and Myrtle (Corcoran) Perry. Arnold served with the Canadian Navy for over 25 years and retired from the Saint John Drydock and a member of St. Francis Xavier RC Church. Arnold will live on in the hearts of Stella his beloved wife of 58 years, his daughters: Janice Miller and her husband Chris of Wards Creek, Darlene MacLaren and her husband Rick of Dartmouth, NS, Gale MacDonald and her husband Gordon of Charlottetown and Carolyn Hume and Bob Cyr of Ottawa; his sister, Marion Johnston and her husband William of Ontario; his five granddaughters: Jill Chorney and her husband Daniel of Halifax, Rebecca Campbell and her husband Darren of Riverview, Ashley Davis of Halifax and Jenna and Erika Miller of Wards Creek; his great granddaughter, Lauren Campbell; his sister-in-law, Jennie Perry of Charlottetown, PEI; Arnold is predeceased by his brother, Paul.

In 1967, when at sea on the Navy ship Nipigon, there was a fatal explosion and fire. Arnold waded through jet fuel to turn off the valve to stop the fuel from adding to the fire and then helped save several of his shipmates. For this, the Admiral of the Navy awarded him the oak leaf medal and the Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct. In 1975 he retired from the Navy.

 Mr. Arnold Perry of Sussex passed away at the Sussex Health Center on January 9, 2012 at the age of 79.

 

Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Wallace Funeral Home, 34 Sunnyside Drive, Sussex, (506-433-1176), where visitation will be held on Wednesday 1-3 and 6-8pm.

 

A Celebration of Arnold’s life will be held from Wallace Community Chapel on Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 10:30 am. The interment will take place at Wards Creek Cemetery.

 

Donations made to the Canadian Cancer Society, the NB Heart and Stroke Foundation or to the memorial of the donor’s choice would be appreciated by the family.