Dear trustees and trustees/overseers emeriti,

I write with the sad news that Bowdoin Overseer Willard Bailey Arnold III died in Waterville, Maine, on February 8, 2017, at the age of 89.

Bill was a loyal son of Bowdoin, who served the College in many different capacities—as 1951’s class agent, president of the Kennebec Valley Bowdoin Club, chair of the Alumni Fund in 1962-63 and 1963-64, capital campaign worker, member of the Alumni Council from 1964 to 1970, member and chair of the Planned Giving Committee, and member of the Board of Overseers from 1970 to 1984. For his outstanding service to the College, he received the Alumni Service Award in 1967.

Bill was born in Waterville on April 20, 1927, the son of Willard B. and Bertha (Terry) Arnold. Educated in the Waterville public schools, he graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy. From 1945 to 1947, he served in the United States Naval Reserve in the Hospital Corps. He entered Bowdoin in the Class of 1951, was a member of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, and was the recipient of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Cup as “…that member of the three lower classes whose vision, humanity, and courage most contribute to making Bowdoin a better college.”

Following his graduation, Bill earned a master’s degree in retailing at New York University. From 1952 to 1954, he worked in the training program at L. Bamberger & Co. in Newark, New Jersey, before returning to Waterville in 1954 as the fourth generation to enter the family hardware business, W. B. Arnold Co. When the retail division closed in 1962, he went on to become a sales representative for Maine in the advertising specialty business at Chase & Sons of Watertown, Massachusetts.

Bill exemplified service to the community throughout his life. An active member of the Republican Party in Maine, he was a Kennebec County commissioner from 1961 to 1972, and was president of the Maine County Commissioners Association. He served one term on the Republican State Committee. He was a former director and president of the Maine Publicity Bureau, president of the Waterville Area Chamber of Commerce, and a director and chair of the Heart Fund of the Maine Heart Association. He served as a director of the Kennebec Valley Industrial Bank from 1960 to 1976 and was later a director of the Portland, Maine-based Peoples Heritage Bank (now TD Bank), serving on its Executive Committee. He was also a director of the Waterville Area Industrial Corporation, a trustee of the Waterville Regional Arts and Community Center (WRACC), and was a member of the Waterville Rotary Club for fifty-six years. In 1988 he was elected president of the Waterville Historical Society, which operates the Redington Museum, and he shared his passion for history long after he retired from that position in 2004. An upstairs wing at the museum, Arnold Hall, was named in his honor in 2003. His interests included gardening and landscaping, genealogical research, collecting original Currier & Ives prints, playing and promoting championship six-wicket croquet, managing the Arnold Block on Waterville’s Main Street, and promoting the Redington Museum.

On October 8, 1957, he married Joan M. Williams of Augusta, Maine, in Charlottesville, Virginia. She survives him, as do two daughters, Elizabeth M. Arnold of Salem, Massachusetts, and her spouse, Janis M. Cotter., and Margaret L. Arnold of Beverly, Massachusetts, and her spouse, Marisa J. Kelly; his daughter-in-law, Jean, of San Francisco, California; one granddaughter, Olivia Lane Arnold, and one grandson, Willard B. (Will) Arnold V; and several cousins. He was predeceased by a son, Willard B. (Andy) Arnold IV.

At Bill’s request there will be no memorial service or funeral. A gathering of friends will be held in Marriner Hall at the Redington Museum, 62 Silver Street, Waterville, on Saturday, April 8, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Donations in his memory may be made to the Arnold Family Fund, c/o Waterville Historical Society, 62 Silver Street, Waterville, ME 04901, or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements are with the Redington Funeral Home, 5 Park Street, Waterville.

We are grateful for the chance to be a part of Bill’s life, and we draw inspiration from his dedication to his family and his community. The Bowdoin community joins me in extending our gratitude and sympathies to Bill’s family during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Clayton