Longest-serving Plymouth trustee is mourned
Oct. 17, 2015 PLYMOUTH EAGLE.
Plymouth Michigan News
Funeral services took place October 14 for the longest-serving member of the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees, Kay A. Arnold, who died last Friday, Oct. 8.
Mrs. Arnold, 76, was born March 26, 1939, in her grandmother’s home in Columbus, Ohio, to Edward and Wilma Bradfute. She attended Central Michigan University, and she was an avid Ohio State Buckeye fan.
She was the business manager at Colonial Collision in Plymouth, where she had worked since 1983. She was also very active in the Plymouth community, having served two terms on the Plymouth Community Chamber of Commerce Board and 12 years on the Community Financial Credit Union Board. She served on the Republican Committee Wayne 11th, and she was currently serving her fifth term as a Plymouth Township Trustee, for a total of 22 years of dedicated service.
She was a volunteer with United Way, the Plymouth Community Arts Council and the Schoolcraft College Foundation.
“Mrs. Arnold served as a trustee for 23 years and worked on the Planning Commission for 20 years. She was a quiet leader who led by example-she believed in Plymouth. Everywhere you go in Plymouth Township you’ll see evidence of her work,” said Township Supervisor Shannon Price.
Mrs. Arnold’s close friend Marilyn Massengill spoke fondly about their long relationship. Massengill said she met Arnold in 1992 for the first time at a swearing-in ceremony before the late Plymouth Judge James Garber. Both Arnold and Massengill were newly- elected officials; Massengill as Township Clerk and Arnold as Trustee. They continued to work together until Massengill retired after 16 years of service. Arnold continued to hold her elected position and work on the town- ship planning commission at the same time until becoming ill a few months ago.
“She was a loyal friend–someone you could talk to and share your feelings with…we both celebrated our birthdays and holidays together. This July we took a really nice cruise to Alaska. It was Kay’s first ocean cruise.” Massengill said.
“We enjoyed each other, had a lot of fun. She was always there for me.” Massengill said.
Township officials spoke of Arnold’s dedication to Plymouth and the various projects she supported in the community.
Fellow board member Bob Doroshewitz, who worked with Mrs. Arnold since 2004, said the two of them would often talk and he would joke with her saying, “You’re a tough ole broad,” and they would have “a good laugh together.”
“She’ll surely be missed..I really respect her years of service to the community,” Doroshewitz said.
Mrs. Arnold is survived by her beloved husband, Tim; her children, Lee O. Arnold, Jayne A. (Robert) Jarvis, J. Bradley (Sherry Cummins) Arnold, Todd B. (Teresa) Arnold, and Becky K. Krupa; her grandchildren, Amy Jones, Amanda Arnold, Ashley Arnold, Mitchell Arnold, Betsy Jarvis, Ben Jarvis, Heather (Andrew) Roman, Ethan Krupa, Emma Krupa, Brett (Rosanna) Cummins, and Natalie (Juan) Sanchez; her great-grandchildren, Juaniteo, Tony, and Angelica Sanchez, Rodrigo and Sofia Flanenco, Mackenzie and Kiley Wethinton, and Breanna Cummins; her brother-in-law, Grant Danskine; her sister-in-law, Helen Bradfute and her nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her sister, Barbara Danskine, and her brother, Air Force Master Sgt. Michael Bradfute.
Funeral services took place at Plymouth Church of Christ in Plymouth.
Memorials in Mrs. Arnold’s name may be made to First Step of Plymouth, 44567 Pinetree Dr. Plymouth, MI, 48170.
Plymouth Voice.
