Saundra Arnold, 82, of Lompoc, California, passed away peacefully and quietly at home on Sunday, July 28, 2019, with her loving husband by her side.
She was born to W. Marvin Evans and Azalea McElhaney Evans on March 8, 1937, in Oxnard, California. Following the separation of her parents, Saundra and her mother moved to Santa Paula, California, her mother’s hometown. In 1940 C.J. Barret (Daddy) became Saundra’s kind and supportive stepfather. Saundra attended all grade levels in Santa Paula, graduation in 1955 from Santa Paula Union High School, where she had served as secretary of the student body her
junior year.
In fall 1955, Saundra entered Oregon State College in Corvallis. In 1956, Saundra married C. Warren Arnold, whom she had met years earlier at a dance in Santa Paula. Following his college graduation, the new couple were working at Crater Lake National Park when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Assigned to duty in Maryland, their daughter Nancy was born at Aberdeen in 1960. Returning from military service, they came to Lompoc where he was employed as a science teacher. In 1962, they welcomed a son, John.
Although Saundra stayed a homemaker until her children finished school, she was an excellent manager and became director of Hospice of Lompoc. Retiring in 1955, she traveled widely in the United States and in Europe on several occasions. Two of those occasions were visits to her German pen-pal with whom she had corresponded since her high school days.
Saundra succumbed to intractable conditions following recovery from injuries at home. She is survived by her husband of 63 years, Warren, daughter Nancy Prier and her husband Richard and their sons Will and Evan; son John and his daughter Jessica, and Saundra’s half-brother Stephen Barret and his wife Nancy and their children. She also leaves behind her many dear friends, new and old, who had meant too much to her over these many years.
A private interment will be at the Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery followed by a memorial service to be held at later date.
Donations in Saundra’s name may be made to Wilshire Home Health Services, 285 South Street, Suite J, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401.
