Edgar Frank \Cooge\"" Arnold Obituary (1925 - 2007)

Edgar Frank Arnold Jr., born in Dozier Heights September 29, 1925. Known to many by his nickname Cooge, his parents were Edgar F. Arnold Sr. and Caroline Long Arnold. \ Graduated from Madisonville High School in 1943 and attended the University of Kentucky briefly after serving three years in the Army Air Corps during World War II, as a Flight Officer/Navigator, on B-17 bombers and PBY patrol planes. \ His first work (age 12-14) was in the golf shop of Madisonville Municipal Park, as a helper on ice delivery trucks (age 15 and 16) , and dump truck driver at 17. Enlisted in Army Air Corps at 18. For 24 years, he worked for the Messenger as reporter, photographer, columnist and the last 7 years (ending 1970) as Editor and Publisher, then 20 years with the Right of Way Division of the Kentucky Transportation Department. Finally as a self-employed real property appraiser, with retirement in the year 2001. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he was also employed as a stringer by the Chicago Tribune. \ Arnold was a deputy sheriff in the 1950s, elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1958, and then served six years on the Democratic State Central Executive Committee. \ He was a long-time member and Chaplain of the Elks lodge, a life member of the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans, member of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, third President of Madisonville Rotary Club, a founder and second President of the revitalized Chamber of Commerce, a founder of Madisonville Community College and of Hopkins County Development Corp., served one year as President of Madisonville Country Club. He was a founder and 10-gallon blood donor for the local blood bank. He was a 2-year Senior Warden of St. Marys Episcopal Church and a lay reader there since 1986. He was a dedicated and active Democrat, and for many years a hunter, fisherman and golfer. \ In the 1980s, Arnold researched (in Wales and elsewhere) the roots of his Arnold family (back at least an unbroken 1,000 years) then wrote and published a book entitled The Arnolds of Gwent, Gwent being a southern county in Wales formerly known as Monmouthshire. \ His first ancestors to come to America were William Arnold and his wife Christian Peake Arnold, two sons, and a brother, Thomas Arnold. They landed in Hingham, Massachusetts on June 24, 1635, which was Williams birthday. One other ancestor was Israel Arnold of Virginia, who served in George Washingtons army at Valley Forge. \ Arnold was preceded in death by his first wife, Jay Mitchell Arnold who was the mother of his three sons (Frank and Brian being deceased) and also by two brothers, Howard and Kenneth; by his second wife, Jeanne C. Arnold, and by a step-daughter Karen Hannah Arnold. He is survived by son, Gil of Raleigh, N.C. and two grandsons, Rob of Chapel Hill, TN and Matt of Cary, N.C.; sister Mary Ann Crary of Madisonville, companion, Patricia Stegelman of Madisonville, and several nieces and nephews. \ Funeral services will be Sunday, April 29, 2007, at 12:00 P.M., at St. Marys Episcopal Church in Madisonville with The Reverend Jim Tremble officiating. Burial will follow in Odd Fellows Cemetery. \ Visitation will be Saturday, April 28, 2007, from 5:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M., and from 10:00 A.M. until 11:30 A.M. on Sunday at the funeral home. \