Arnie Gaynor dies at 83; world record thrower, WMA champ
Arnie in 2009 with one of his many Striders club awards. He last competed in late 2010.
Arnold Ehret (Arnie) Gaynor (1928 – 2011)
Arnold (Arnie) Ehret Gaynor, 83, loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, educator, coach, and world-record holding Senior Masters thrower, passed away peacefully in his Palm Desert, Calif. home after battling cancer.
Gaynor was born in Guerneville, Calif. on January 19, 1928 to Ethel Pardie (Purdy) and John Edgar Marx. He earned the Distinguished Achievement-School Award from the American Legion while attending San Juan High School in Fair Oaks, Calif. From 1946 to 1948, Gaynor served in the U.S. Army during the occupation of Germany. Upon his Honorable Discharge, Gaynor attended the University of California at Los Angeles, where he met and later married Marilyn June Rogers.
The two were soul mates and enjoyed their lives together in Orange, Calif. as they raised their family and traveled throughout the United States. In 1998, after 45 years of marriage, Marilyn June lost her battle with breast and liver cancer. Blessed with a second chance at love, Gaynor married Marilyn Stuart in 1999. The two enjoyed a wonderful life in Palm Desert, traveling and participating in athletic events.
Gaynor was an American and World record holder in discus and shot put, earning #1 place finishes in his age group during the 2009 World Masters Championships in Lahti, Finland.
Sadly, in July, 2010, Marilyn Stuart Gaynor died of cancer within the Palm Desert home she and Arnie shared. A lifelong educator, Gaynor began his professional career as a middle school teacher within the Citrus Heights School District, moving on to teaching and coaching assignments at Bell Gardens High School (Bell Gardens, Calif.) and Savanna High School (Anaheim, Calif.).
From 1964 to 1980, Gaynor served as an Assistant Principal and Principal at Cypress, Kennedy, Magnolia, and Nova high schools within the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD).
In 1984, Gaynor opened the Fairmont Educational Clinic where he helped dozens of students realize success in their academic performance and career placement decisions. From 1986 to 1999, Gaynor was an Adjunct Professor with United States Sports Academy and then Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator for United States International University, teaching administrative courses in England, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Botswana.
Always a coach and athlete, Gaynor was a Varsity football coach and head track coach at Savanna High School during the early 60s. Throughout the 1970s, he was a coach/manager of the South Sunrise Little League in Orange, CA. In 1988, he joined the Southern California Striders Track and Field Club and competing in Senior Masters track and field competitions throughout the country and world, competing in discus, javelin, shot put, and other weight events.
As Coach Gaynor often said: “the tougher the battle, the sweeter the victory.” Gaynor earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education and History from the University of California at Los Angeles, his Master’s degree in Secondary Educational Administration from Chapman University and his Doctorate in Education from the University of Southern California.
He was a member of Phi Delta Kappa (Cal State/Fullerton Chapter), Delta Epsilon (USC Chapter), UCLA Alumni Association, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon (UCLA Chapter). He served as a sponsor of Explorer Scout Post 1360 (Orange County), President of the El Modena High School Booster Club, Officer of the Orange County Career Education Leadership Council, and a member of the Orange 2000 Community Planning Project.
Gaynor is survived by his daughters, Connie Gaynor of Loveland, Colo. and Diane Gaynor-McCue of La Costa, Calif.; his sons, Arne and Matt Gaynor of Enumclaw, Wash.; grandchildren, Ryan and Devon Hoffner, Brendan Dudley Gaynor, Alicia Gaynor, and Kate McCue; his son-in-law, Steve McCue and daughter-in-law, Cecilia Gaynor; his step-daughters, Robin Noble of Orange, Calif., and Marleigh Gleicher of La Jolla, Calif.; his stepson, Charles Stuart of Rye, N.Y.; and his great-grandchildren, Josiah, Eliana and Kasen. A memorial service will be held at 12:00 noon, Wednesday, December 7, 2011, at Fairhaven Memorial Park (Waverly Chapel) in Santa Ana, Calif.
Published in The Desert Sun from December 1 to December 3, 2011
Arnie shows off an old Striders jacket he got at a Southern California Striders banquet in December 2006. (Photo by Ken Stone)
5 Responses
Another great Southern California masters athlete leaves us. Jeff and I met Arnie at one of my first So Cal Striders meets. He introduced himself, then gave me pointers on my javelin (lack of) technique. I joined the Striders in ’93 and Arnie and Marilyn J. were very welcoming. Always in “coach mode” Arnie never ran out of tips on how to make my shot put go farther. It was an honor to know him. We will miss his great smile, his sincere heart, and his athletic talent. He’s probably breaking records in that big shot put ring in the sky!
What does it take to say something nice about an athlete who showed great competition, great ability & great human kindness?
I am sorry I never got to meet Anrie. I sure would have been the greater for it.
One comment, just one comment from the entire master community. And for all the throwers out there, no one could say soething nice?
Maybe you all should get out of your own world’s and start thinging about others.
As much as many say they care…………it is total $%^#@^ especially when someone of this caliber passes on.
Maybe you all should just keep wishing about breaking records as opposed to cheering on the legacy of someone who did what you all probally won’t ever accomplish.
I wish I had known him, Joe. I haven’t commented because I never had the pleasure of meeting him. I heard a lot about Arnie over the years, however, and it was all good. He was one of those people who had a lot of friends and apparently no enemies.
Hello Joe:
I have been out of town at a swim meet in which my son competed and am just now catching up on my reading. Arnie and Marilyn were my friends for almost ten years, and I, too, am somewhat surprised that so few have commented. Perhaps the Sunday posting eluded others as it did me.
Arnie was one of the finest men I have ever known. Gracious, modest, accommodating, humorous, focussed, competitive, and intelligent all come to mind. I never heard Arnie say a cross word about anyone; and no one ever said a bad word about him.
My favorite memory of Arnie is at the 2006 West Region championships at Long Beach State. Arnie was chasing another shot put record–he got the record at Charlotte a month later–and was really going after it. The memorable part of the story is that the great 1948 Olympic Shot Put Champion, Moose Thompson, was coaching Arnie.
The spry eighty-something year old Moose was chewing out seventy-eight year old Arnie after each throw; and Arnie was taking it in stride as a high school kid would with his coach–standing at attention, nodding in agreement, and promising to do better on the next throw. I was sitting with Marilyn, and we, along with all the other competitors and observers, enjoyed the spectacle. My guess is that many other throwers remember that day as well.
I was saddened to learn of Marilyn’s death last year, and now we have lost another throwing legend with the passing of Arnie. Rest in peace, my friend. I was proud to know you.
Mike Shiaras
I did know Arnie Gaynor. I didn’t know him personally outside of masters track and field, but I was fortunate to have thrown with him at many meets. I knew him well enough to know that he epitomized what I have grown to love about the people who participate in our sport. We “field” athletes have a unique opportunity to actually spend time with each other during our competitions. Rather than lining up next each other at a starting line and then running as fast as we can to get away from the person next to us, we actually sit with each other and offer suggestions to help our fellow competitors throw and jump farther. Arnie was an amazing athlete and I will miss watching his world record throws, but most of all I will miss his smile and his words of encouragement and his great big hugs.
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