Published:  10/25/02

Rouses Point — Arnold Anthony Beal, 66, died Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2002, at Fletcher-Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt., from complications associated with cancer treatment.

He was born on Aug. 27, 1936, in Louisville, Ky., the son of Mark and Josephine (O'Brien) Beal.

He joined the U.S. Air Force in his senior year of high school. While stationed at the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base, he met Marlene Connelly. They were engaged in 1958 and were married on June 20, 1959.

Arnold worked for the Champlain Telephone Company, retiring in 1997. Always interested in antique cars, he and his friend Victor West worked together to refurbish many vehicles. Their yearly five-day jaunt to Stowe, Vt., was eagerly anticipated. He started taking his grandson Nathaniel Weiss five years ago and his second grandson, Stephen VanderKraats, made his first trip in 2001.

Arnold was also interested in doing for the greatest good for the most people. He was trustee for the Village of Rouses Point for four years and was instrumental in the development of the Rouses Point Civic Center. He was also a councilor for the Town of Champlain for 16 years and supervisor for the Town of Champlain for six years. He was a member of St. Patrick's Church in Rouses Point, where he was an usher and former lector and choir member. He was a member of Knights of Columbus Council 2366 in Rouses Point and was a former bingo caller.

He is survived by his wife Marlene (Connelly) Beal of Rouses Point; a son, Arnold Beal II of Keeseville; two daughters, Melinda (Beal) Weiss and her husband Steven P. Weiss and their children, Allison and Nathaniel Weiss of Rouses Point and Melanie (Beal) VanderKraats and her husband Stephan VanderKraats and their children, Katherine and Stephan II of Colchester, Vt.; a sister, Shirley (Beal) Prestigiacomo of Louisville, Ky.; a brother, James Beal of Tennessee; and several nieces and nephews.

His parents; a sister, Merschol (Beal) Prestigiacomo; and a brother, Melvin Beal, died before him.

Calling hours will be held on Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the E.F. Drown Funeral Service in Champlain. Members of Knights of Columbus Council 2366 will meet at the funeral home at 7:30 p.m. Sunday for services. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Monday from St. Patrick's Church in Rouses Point. Interment will follow in the parish cemetery.

For directions and guest book, please visit www.legacy.com

Erma Fidelia Childs Holmes, 82, of Brushton, died Thursday, Oct. 24, 2002, at the Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone.

Calling hours for friends and family will be held Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Spaulding Funeral Home in Malone. A funeral service will be held Saturday in the funeral home at 10 a.m., with pastor James Davis of the Pilgrim Holiness Church presiding. Burial will be in Morningside Cemetery, Malone.

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