Charles Snelling Arms, age 97, died peacefully at his home in Marion, Massachusetts on Thursday, December 19, 2012.
Chuck, as his many friends and family knew him, was born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1915. He attended the Asheville School and Yale University, graduating from Yale in 1937. In the fall of that year he went to work for Pickands Mather & Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, and two years later, in July 1939, he married his beloved wife, Betsy, a storybook marriage that was to thrive and strengthen for nearly three-quarters of a century.
In 1969, after 30 years in Cleveland, he retired as Senior Vice President of Pickands Mather to become the founding president of Financial Management and Resources Company. During his time in Cleveland he also served as Director of several small companies and as a Trustee of the Asheville School.
I n 1979 he and Betsy left Ohio to spend their summers in Marion, Massachusetts, and their winters at their new home at Ocean Reef in Key Largo, Florida. Here Chuck served as a Trustee and early President of the Ocean Reef Medical Center, the Ocean Reef Chapel, and the Card Sound Golf Club. He was also a 35-year member (and eventual resident) of the Key Largo Anglers Club.
During his years in Marion, he served as a Trustee of Tabor Academy and was a member of the Kittansett Club and the Beverly Yacht Club. For 15 years he was also Chairman of his class Capital Gifts Committee at Yale, for which he received the Yale Medal for Distinguished Service and was named a “Sterling Fellow” of the University.
In addition to his formal accomplishments, “Poppy” was a friend and mentor to children of all ages. He was a Pied Piper, always eager to share his enthusiasm for sailing, fishing, and tending his lobster pots. All his “children” will dearly miss him.
He is survived by his son Myron Arms and his wife Kay, his daughter Carolyn Young and her husband Skip Crane, his daughter-in-law Margot Stone, widow of his late son David Arms, as well as by six living grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren. Notice of a Memorial Service will be announced at a later date. Gifts may be made in his memory to St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church (P.O. Box 545, Marion MA 02738); Community Nurse and Hospice Care (62 Center Street, Fairhaven MA 02719); or The Medical Center at Ocean Reef (50 Barracuda Lane, Key Largo FL 33037).