Any help would be greatly appreciated in this tragic time. Thank you all for your support and love for my father
This memorial website was created in the memory of Andy Arnold, 54, born on March 31, 1959 and passed away on November 6, 2013. Andy died doing what he loved, Aloha and Mahalo to our good friend.
Funeral Service:
Tuesday November 19th 10 am at Sts. Simon and Jude Church in Huntington Beach (Magnolia and Indianapolis).
Tributes
Leave a tributeAny help would be greatly appreciated in this tragic time. Thank you all for your support and love for my father
rap around you and comfort you at this time of grief. Also I have in Andys name
made a donation to the OC rescue mission so many homeless people will be fed on Thanksgiving day.
family and friends that are trying to come to terms with his too soon passing.
Once in heaven we will know why, but until then all we can do is appreciate Andy for making this world a better place because he was in it.
His big heart and kind spirit will be greatly missed.
I am shocked to hear, Andy Arnold and I have been friends from the beginning, played marbles in per school, built a childhood together, I am lost for words. Barbie please let me know if Lori and I can help in any way. Our God took him to soon!
You and your family are in my prayers... I'm still in shock over everything, and the HB Concert Band will certainly be feeling like we are missing something... I'm sure his trumpet sounds amazing considering heavens musicians and acoustics are perfect! Miss ya Andy!
So sorry for your loss. Our family had known Andy since he/we were all kids. He will be missed. You and your family are in our prayers.
ME AND ANDY HAD THE BEST TIMES IN THE WATER ON LAND PLAYING MUSIC ALWAYS PARKED NEXT TO ME ALL THE TIME I'M SO SORRY WHAT HAPPENED PLEASE KEEP BRINGING TEDDY BY ON THE BIKE, I WOULD LOVE TO DO A PADDLE OUT FOR HIM OK GOD BLESS TO ALL FAMILY AND FRIENDS LOVE YOU GUYS
Condolences for your entire family. Andy has been a schoolmate, friend, fellow band member, insurance agent, etc... He will be missed on the bike rides and by the many whose lives he touched. Praying that the people who received his final donations will be blessed and that your family will find peace.
Andy and I became friends surfing together and hanging out at the pier. Andy and I had many good times there. I miss Andy. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones. Andy has gone on to a better place.
Lloyd and Judy Glick
It was an honor knowing you and playing beside you in the HBCB. Your fun loving spirit and love of music will live on in my heart. I can still hear the TJB riffs that you loved to play...
I so enjoyed knowing you and playing music in the HBCBand. I'll miss your fun loving attitude.
I got to say goodbye to my friend Andy Arnold last night. I also said goodbye for everyone who's name I could remember especially from the north side. Thanks to the HB Lifeguard crew who worked so hard on Andy trying to revive him. Continue to pray for peace for the Arnold family.
Leave a Tribute
Any help would be greatly appreciated in this tragic time. Thank you all for your support and love for my father
rap around you and comfort you at this time of grief. Also I have in Andys name
made a donation to the OC rescue mission so many homeless people will be fed on Thanksgiving day.
Please be patient.
Orange County Register
Surfers are mourning the death of a longtime bodysurfer who died after a neck injury he sustained while surfing waves near Huntington Beach Pier last week.
Andrew Arnold – known for playing his trumpet on the north side parking lot – was pulled out from the water Nov. 4 and was unconscious when lifeguards arrived. He was taken to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, where he was pronounced dead on Sunday after his organs were harvested, according to longtime friend Daren Jenner.
Jenner said low tide that afternoon could have caused shallow water, and it is believed that Arnold hit his head on a sand bar when he was “flipping out” of a wave.
Jenner and Arnold, who grew up in Huntington Beach, had just days before spent time bodysurfing the Wedge, Seal Beach, and Arnold’s regular spot, the Huntington Beach Pier.
Jenner, who met Arnold when he was 4, described him as the kind of guy to give you his last dollar.
“He was a gentle giant, a musician, and a lover of life, his family, and his friends,” Jenner wrote in an e-mail. “He cherished the ocean and water; they were his refuge. He always respected ‘Mother Ocean,’ and he was a talented bodysurfer, he rode those big pier bowls with courage and style, using only a small hand board for steering.”
Acting Marine Safety Chief Mike Baumgartner said that Arnold was a regular bodysurfer in the area.
“He is someone who frequents the area all the time; he’s very competent,” Baumgartner said.
Off-duty lifeguards responded to Arnold, Baumgartner said.
Baumgartner said lifeguards respond to about 20 – 25 cervical injuries a year, and that an uneven ocean floor can be dangerous even for the most experienced ocean-user.
“You always have to keep your arms out in front of your head if you’re anywhere near the ocean floor,” he said.
Friend Ryan Turner said Arnold was someone who charged the biggest waves, and the day they found him the conditions were “puny.”
Arnold sold Turner’s family insurance. He took over the Farmer’s Insurance business in Huntington Beach on Main Street from his mother, Eileen, after she died.
“He was a great guy; the easiest guy to talk to,” Turner said.
Surfer Mark Weiss remembers seeing Arnold often in the parking lot before surf sessions.
“He’d just be playing his horn; it was awesome,” he said. “He always had a good vibe. He was a fixture down there, we lost a good guy.”
Jenner is in Phuket, Thailand, volunteering as a lifeguard, where they plan to have a “swim out” for Arnold. Plans for a Huntington memorial are also in the works, though a time and date have not been decided.
Laylan Connelly
The Orange County Register
OrangeCounty.com
lconnelly@ocregister.com
Relayed from Sumo Sato:
Barbie so sorry for what's going on. Myself and our church is praying for peace and comfort for your family. As you know Andy was a close friend who constantly asked me to play my guitar for him. Johnny Denney and I would play music and Andy would try to join us with his trumpet. He would always play the Star Wars theme for me when I entered the parking lot. He always encouraged me about church and how he knew it was good for the community. My heart aches for you and your family. The boys in the parking lot are missing him and seems a part of our family is gone. Please let me know about services and let me know if we can be of any help. The Orange County Register contacted me and asked if they could have permission to run an article about Andy Arnold. Please let me know if you would like that.
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I wanted to share a photo that I shared on FB a couple of years ago. I remember Andy from High School. I'm glad that we were able to reconnect, after all these years, on FB. This is the exchange we had after I posted this photo:I hadn't seen this picture before. I think that's me holding the trumpet.Stacy Ann Repecko Enslen I thought that was you!
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Andy Arnold ·I have absolutely no pictures from high school.