Leo James Arnold
Leo James Arnold, 62, of Allen Oklahoma passed away on Monday January 3, 2022, in Ada, Oklahoma. A graveside service will be held at 2:00 pm Friday, January 21 st , at the Kingston Cemetery in Kingston, Oklahoma. A reception will follow at the Kingston First Baptist Church (109 N Main St Kingston).
Leo is survived by his wife, Chrystal Arnold of Allen; his father James (JW) and Anelle Arnold of Ardmore; brothers Ralph Arnold of Yuba City, California and Will and Tami Arnold of Fort Worth, Texas; his children, Leo Arnold Jr of Yuba City California, Jessica Pippitt of Yuba City California, Kenneth and Holly Arnold of Baconton, Georgia, Crystal and Bobby of Kingston, and Jacob and Shelby Arnold of Kingston; and his stepson Don and Shelby Perron of Punte Gorda, Florida. Leo leaves twelve grandchildren and one great-grandson. Leo also leaves two other step-children from a previous marriage, Bryan Morrison from Yuba City, California and Brenda Morrison from Colorado.
Leo is preceded in death by his mother, Helen Helzerm, and brother, Derek Arnold.
Leo was born on December 10, 1959 in Sonoma, California to James (JW) Arnold and Helen Y. Cobel. Leo was raised in the Marysville/Yuba City, California area. He joined the Army after school where he became a mechanic working on tanks. This also led Leo to use the skills he learned to work on anything that had an engine from small engines to heavy equipment. Leo earned the Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, and Overseas Service Ribbon. He also received the Marksmanship badge for the M-16 rifle and the Expert badge for the .45 cal pistol.
Leo enjoyed doing things outside from fishing to working on cars. Leo loved to collect guns and western memorabilia.
Leo’s son Kenny says of his father, “Growing up my father was always the funny one, playing jokes on us. He was serious when needed to be. There were a lot of times that dad would get us something and not tell us much about it, we just needed to figure it out. One time that I remember dad got me and my step-brother, Bryan Morrison, a couple of dirt bikes, he told us that if we wanted to ride them we had to figure out how to run them, but once we did . . . we were getting in trouble for ripping up the yard.
“If I had to say what Dad left behind in me was the basic mechanic skills and how to troubleshoot. He taught me about being patient while working on major projects. I never got that patient thing down! Dad was always one for showing me the real world skills. I can say that if Dad was working on something he never turned down a way to teach that skill. Of course as a kid I thought he just wanted me to do it so he didn’t have to. There is a lot of thing I remember watching him do or how he talked to people that have helped me in my adulthood.”