Gus O Arrington, Jr.

Boyd ~ Gus O. Arrington, Jr., 80, an engineering liaison, went to be with our Lord Saturday, July 2, 2016 in Decatur.

Funeral is 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, July 5, 2016 at Christian-Hawkins Funeral Home Chapel with burial in Boyd Cemetery. Family will receive friends 6-8 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.

Rev. Billy Fitch will officiate and be assisted by Rev. Phillip Weitner and Rev. James Arrington. Pallbearers include Mark McClung, Johnny Sanders, Audie Phillips, Harold Lisby, Elbert Milner, and Brad Barber.

Gus was born on October 31, 1935 to Gus and Flossie (Parsons) Arrington in Boyd, Texas. He graduated from Boyd High School in 1954 then put himself through two years of college at North Texas State University. While he was out of school to earn enough money for additional education, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. After he finished his service obligation, he began work at Bell Helicopter in an engineering liaison position. He was the driving force behind many projects, including the then revolutionary process to create the lightweight rotor assembly on the V-22 Osprey Helicopter. He remained there until his retirement in 2001.

He was born in the heart in the Great Depression and his introduction to life in a state of relative poverty affected the way he viewed the world for the rest of his life. After helping his father build a new family home he settled into his life's work of helping the rest of his family succeed in their lives. Over the next 40 years he saved most of his salary to build an education fund for his nephews and nieces. As each child graduated from high school, he would offer them enough assistance that they could get an education by working only part time. In this manner he put seven people through college. His only reward in this was seeing all of his nephews and nieces put into positions to succeed in life, which each of them did.

Gus was preceded in death by his parents, Gus and Flossie Arrington; and his infant brother, Jack Nolan Arrington.

Those left behind to cherish his memory are his brothers, James Daniel Arrington and wife Virginia of Boyd and Eddie Raymond Arrington and wife Carolyn of Eureka Springs, Arkansas; his cousin, Helen Parsons Fields and husband Wayne of Cottondale; numerous nieces, nephews, and a host of friends.

Christian-Hawkins Funeral Home, Boyd, Texas 940-433-5310

www.hawkinsfuneralhome.com