James Young Arnold, Jr.

James Young Arnold, Jr., a long-time resident of Palm Beach, Florida died peacefully at home on April 6, 2025. He was 100 years old and had been married to Roberta Blum Arnold, who predeceased him in 2014, for 68 years.

Mr. Arnold is survived by their children: James Y. Arnold, III (Terry), Paige Arnold Benjamin, F. Brooks Arnold (Kim), and Laurie Arnold Host (George): nine grandchildren: James Y. Arnold, IV, Kathleen Emmett Hager, William E. Benjamin IV, Katherine Arnold Wolf, Amanda B. Arnold, Grace Arnold Cox, Elizabeth Host Adams, Brooks G. Host, and Paige L. Host; and fourteen great grandchildren.

Mr. Arnold, who was known as “JY”, was born in Elberton, Georgia on October 11, 1924, to James Young Arnold and Kathleen Grogan Arnold. His family moved to Palm Beach when he was four and he attended Palm Beach Public School, Palm Beach High School, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he served as President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Mr. Arnold enrolled in the Naval Reserve Officers Training School in September 1941 and was commissioned in February 1944. He served as an officer in the United States Navy Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet, and went to sea as a deck officer on the U.S.S. Artemis. He saw combat as a Wave Commander leading the fifth wave to landing craft to hit Yellow Beach Two at the Battle of Iwo Jima.

After the war, Mr. Arnold completed his studies at Stetson University and joined his father and uncle in the family construction business and became a builder of residential, commercial and infrastructure projects throughout Florida and in South Carolina, including the University of Florida Medical School and Teaching Hospital and the Palm Beach International Airport.

A lifelong Palm Beach resident, Mr. Arnold was active in numerous local and regional civic and cultural activities and organizations. He served as President of the Board of Trustees of the Norton Museum of Art, and as Chairman of Art Speaks, the Norton’s outreach program for young children in Palm Beach and Martin Counties. He was a member of the Florida Arts Council and the Palm Beach County Council of the Arts.

He was Chairman of the Palm Beach Community Trust Fund for 30 years. He was a founding director of Gulfstream Goodwill Industries Inc., and a director of the YMCA, the Salvation Army, and the Town of Palm Beach Public Employees Relations Commission. He was the first non-lawyer elected to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.

He was an active volunteer at Good Samaritan Hospital and at Café Joshua serving the homeless. He found reading to people who were in the hospital, rehabilitation and nursing homes a most rewarding experience. He served as a director of the Stetson University School of Business.

In 2011, the Palm Beach Centennial Commission honored Mr. Arnold as a Centennial Ambassador for his contributions to Palm Beach.

A true Renaissance man, Mr. Arnold was a life long learner with many diverse interests. His love of art and music and his support of local artists inspired friends and family. He was a member of the Center for Italian Studies. He read voraciously and consumed three newspapers a day to the end.

A great outdoorsman, Mr. Arnold was an avid birder who spent years with binoculars around his neck and kept a bird call in his toiletry kit. He loved the sea and boating and spent many years introducing friends and family to the joys of exploring the islands of the Abacos in the Bahamas. He loved the expanses of central Florida and he enjoyed riding and hunting among the palmettos and sawgrass and canoeing in the Everglades. He played tennis well late into his eighties.

Mr. Arnold was a gentleman of courtly and impeccable manners with a warm smile and soothing voice. He was admired for character, courage, curiosity, honor and integrity, especially by the many beneficiaries of his loyalty, service, and kindness. His life was punctuated with good mischief and a great sense of humor. He was guided by the principle that service is often best done anonymously. He was beloved by his family and by friends of all ages and across generations.

The family wishes to acknowledge the invaluable loyalty and assistance of Mrs. Caroline McLeod, Mrs. Rosalie McKenzie, Mrs.Dawneth Brown, Miss Madge Golding, Mr. Melbourne Dixon, and Mr. Carlton Thompson.

Mr. Arnold was a long serving member of the Royal Poinciana Chapel of Palm Beach.

Services will be private. Friends may wish to support in his memory the Hope Heals Camp, 4279 Roswell Road NE, Suite 208, #270, Atlanta, GA 30342. Hope Heals was founded by his granddaughter Katherine Arnold Wolf and her husband Jay Wolf to provide hope and create community for families experiencing disabilities.

Announcement courtesy of Berry Funeral Home.