Harry Lee Arnest Jr.

ARNEST, Harry Lee Jr., 88, of Kinsale, husband of Betty Norris Arnest, died at home on March 3, 2009. He was born on August 23, 1920, the eldest son of Harry Lee Arnest and Fannie Tyler Griffith Arnest. He lived with his maternal grandparents in Hague for most of his early years, and graduated from Cople High School in 1937. He took pre-med courses at George Washington University for two years, and then entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1939. Following his graduation from Annapolis in 1942, he was assigned to the U.S.S. North Carolina as a gunnery officer. After nearly two years aboard the North Carolina, he was reassigned to submarine school in New London, Conn., and subsequently served as a gunnery officer on the U.S.S. Corporal. In 1947, he resigned his commission from the Navy and moved to Kinsale, his wife's hometown. He engaged in a number of enterprises in Kinsale over the years, from running a general store to hauling seine to operating a marina. In the early 1970s, he began selling real estate, which was to be his career for over 30 years. His firm, Harry Lee Arnest Jr. Real Estate, was located in the downstairs of an old granary building in Kinsale, with a great lookout over the Kinsale harbor. He was a past president of the Northern Neck Association of Realtors, and a recipient of that group's Lifetime Achievement Award. His civic activities included helping to start Kinsale's Volunteer Fire Department and serving on the vestry of Cople Parish. He was a member of the Planning Commission for Westmoreland County from 1984 to 1987. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, and by his grandchildren, William Moore Brockenbrough Arnest, Ann Norris Arnest, and Harry Lee Arnest IV, the children of his late son, Harry Lee Arnest III. His daughter, Jane Tyler Arnest, likewise predeceased him. Among his siblings, he is survived by Frances B. Arnest and Phillip G. Arnest; and was predeceased by Emily Faith Arnest Williams and D. Carter Arnest. He is also survived by his daughter-in-law, Alice P. Moore, and by a number of nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank Downs Little and his staff, and everyone associated with Riverside Tappahannock Hospice, for their compassionate care. The family will receive friends at their home, Sloop Point, from 4 to 7 p.m., on March 12 and March 13. A memorial service will be held at Yeocomico Episcopal Church at 11 a.m. on March 14. Memorial contributions may be made to the Kinsale Foundation, P.O. Box 307, Kinsale, Va. 22488; Cople Parish, P.O. Box 110, Hague, Va. 22469; Cople District Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 51, Kinsale, Va. 22488; or Riverside Tappahannock Hospice, 618 Hospital Rd., Medical Arts Bldg A, Suite 201, Tappahannock, Va. 22560.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.