Meredith Lynn Proctor Arneson

Meredith Lynn Proctor Arneson was granted her angel wings on July 27th, 2022. Her final days were spent surrounded by her loving family and friends whom she impacted greatly in her life.

Meredith was born October 9, 1941, in Takoma Park, Maryland to Margaret Faulconer Proctor and Frank Baker Proctor. Meredith was dedicated to her church and her love of the Lord throughout her life and proved so through her works within the community. She was a very talented artist who loved to create. She was a loving wife of 61 years, a mother of three, an aunt, a great aunt, a grandmother, a great grandmother, and a best friend. She loved her family and friends greatly and lived so gracefully.

Meredith attended elementary, middle, and high school in Silver Spring, Maryland which she always thought of as her hometown. She graduated from Montgomery Blair Senior High School in Silver Spring in 1959. She then attended American University in Washington, D.C. receiving an Associate’s Degree in Radio/TV/Communications. She went on to study in the field of art and design at Maryland University, College Park, Maryland and, what was then, Mount Vernon College in Washington, D.C. While attending American University, Meredith met husband, Jon. They married in June of 1961 just one month after her graduation from AU. Along with the raising and caring for the family, her husband and three sons, and pets (their dogs were her favorite), she held a number of jobs in the workforce including retail sales, airline employee, radio and TV company employee, promotional modeling, real estate agent, art and interior design employee and school board art and science staff person. She also enjoyed performing as an actress in theater for several years including the playing of such roles as “Hamlet’s” Ophelia and Linda in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”.

Meredith retired from Anne Arundel County Maryland Public Schools in June of 1999. For many years, the family enjoyed life on or near a body of water but for retirement Meredith and Jon chose the Valley between two mountain ranges.

She and Jon retired to their much-enjoyed home in Swoope, Virginia (heart of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley) in 2001. Many family and friend gatherings were enjoyed together there.

The Arneson family lived in a number of places through the years. After moving from Silver Spring, they resided in a Chesapeake Bay community, and then two different communities in the suburbs of Annapolis. They lived in five different locations in Florida before returning to Maryland.

Meredith held membership in several protestant churches over the years but beginning in 2002 she became an active member of Hebron Presbyterian Church in Staunton, Virginia, singing in the choir and serving as church historian and coordinator for their annual Presbyterian Women’s Celebration of Life Service, and other services for many years. She also served as Vice Chair and Marketing Coordinator for Valley Women’s Connection of Staunton, an affiliate of Stonecroft, and worked with helping to fill the computer needs. Meredith enjoyed her computer and all that it offered as a tool for her creativity and help to others. She also involved herself in community work as a member of Beverley Manor Ruritan Club and devoted time to many original art projects that she sold and shared for various church and community fund raising events.

Meredith was a dedicated wife and is survived by her loving and devoted husband of 61 years Jon H. Arneson.

She is also survived by her children, Erik Arneson (Sandy Arneson), Brian Arneson (Devon Arneson), Jeff Arneson (Hiliary Arneson), and Cindie Gest-Arneson, along with her special niece Robin Kokolis, her grandchildren Eileen Patterson, Kyle Arneson, Jenna Arneson, Alex Arneson (Christina Arneson), Alicia Arneson (Clay Surratt), Jaret Arneson, Dakota Arneson, Anna Arneson, Vanessa Arneson, Benjamin Arneson, step-grandchildren Caleb and Isaac McCauley, and their great grandchildren Balin Patterson, Stanley Patterson, Alana Arneson, and Gideon Arneson, her sister-in-law Karen (Candy) Arneson, and many other dear and beloved family members. She is preceded in death by both parents, her sister, Lois Proctor Parker and brothers Frank Baker Proctor Jr. and John Mathew Proctor and sister-in-law, Ruth Carson Proctor two brothers-in-law James Edward Arneson and Henry Knute Arneson, Jr. and sister-in-law Janet Bernard Arneson. Also predeceased is her former sister-in-law, Greta Paulson Arneson.

A celebration of life service will be held on August 6th, 2022, at 10:00AM, at Hebron Presbyterian Church. A time for family and friends to gather will follow the service at Jon and Meredith’s home.

Memorials may be made to the Hebron Presbyterian Women’s Fund.