CLAUDE ARNOLD

DEXTER -- Funeral service for Dexter attorney Claude Arnold was held Feb. 4 at Rainey Funeral Chapel in Dexter. The Rev. Vaughn Wright officiated, with burial in Dexter Cemetery.

Arnold, 91, died Thursday, Feb. 2, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

He was born June 28, 1903, son of William and Lula Hampton Arnold.

Arnold studied law while teaching school, and passed the Missouri Bar exam in 1928. He entered politics and served in the House of Representatives from 1939-41 and was parliamentarian of the House.

In 1943 he was elected as a delegate from the 23rd Senatorial District to attend the Constitutional Convention to help rewrite the 1875 Missouri Constitution. He was the last surviving member of the convention.

Arnold was appointed in 1949 by the governor to fill the remainder of the term of Stoddard County probate judge. He was elected to the post in 1950 but gave up politics to concentrate on his law practice in Dexter.

He was granted privileges to try cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1968. During his career he was city attorney for Puxico, Fisk, Bernie and Dexter. He announced his retirement in 1984 but didn't actually retire until 1990.

Arnold was a pilot and had logged more than 3,000 hours of flying. He obtained private and commercial licenses and was instrumental in maintaining the Crowley Ridge Pilot Association in Dexter in the early years.

Survivors include his wife, Nina; two daughters, Claudine Reak of Lubbock Texas, Sandra Luetje of Overland Park, Kan.; a sister, Helen Howard of Fruitland; six grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by three sisters, Mayme Toner, Beulah Poinsett and Freda Arnold.