Arnold Chase Satterthwait
Arnold Chase Satterthwait, an Aramco employee from 1950 to 1960 died Nov. 29, 2012 in Pullman, WA at the age of 92. He was a linguist and was employed by Aramco to assist in teaching Arabic and to teaching English to the Arab speaking employees. He always enjoyed his years in Dhahran (as did all his children) and spoke very fondly of the many Arab friends he had while living there with his family.
He continued speaking Arabic whenever he could until Ahlzhiemer's took over his ability to do so.
After leaving Aramco, Arnold received a PhD from Harvard in linguistics and went on to teach at Washingon State University until he retired. His wife Fannie Jane and son Bruce preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife Florence and his children Arnold, Michele, Cecilia and Sally, 7 grand children and 5 great grandchildren.
~Cec Zander
Obituary Published in Moscow-Pullman Daily News:
Arnold Chase Satterthwait, 92, of Moscow, Idaho, died Nov. 29, 2012, in Pullman, Wash. Arnold was born April 8, 1920, in Germantown, Pa., the son of Charles Shoemaker and Elizabeth P. (Smith) Satterthwait. Arnold grew up in Germantown and Pottstown, Pa.
Arnold graduated from Haverford College where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received a master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania and doctorate at Harvard University.
Arnold was a lifelong Quaker and at the time of his death, was a member of the Pullman-Moscow Friends Meeting. He adhered to the Quaker Testimony against war and all violence. During World War II, he refused to register for the draft and spent four years in prison. He believed strongly in the testimony of equality.
Arnold spent 10 years during the 1950s, in Saudi Arabia where he taught Arabic to the employees of ARAMCO - the Arabian American Oil Company. He later spent 20 years at Washington State University as a professor of linguistics and computer science. He retired in 1982.
Arnold was a man of principle and of high intellectual accomplishment and curiosity. He loved books, history, genealogy and people, especially those from different cultures and those he viewed as misunderstood and/or downtrodden by our society.
Arnold married first, Fannie Jane Zissa, in 1942. They had five children. She preceded him in death in 2002. On Sept. 20, 2003, he married Florence Bye (Brown) in Moscow, Idaho.
He is survived by his wife Florence at the family home in Moscow; four children Arnold (Jr.) of San Diego, Calif., Michele and her husband, John Goldman, of Santa Fe, N.M., Cecilia and her husband, Glenn Zander, of McMinnville, Ore., and Sally and her husband Evan Fridge of Knoxville, Tenn.; one brother, Charles Satterthwait Jr. of Gwynedd, PA.; six grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife, one son Robert Bruce, and one granddaughter Kara Zander. A memorial service will be held in Moscow at a later date.
Local arrangements have been entrusted to Short's Funeral Chapel. Burial will be in the family plot in Pottstown, Pa. Online condolences my be made at www.shortsfuneralchapel.net.