Alan L. Arnold

There is absolutely nothing in this world you cannot do.
Go get 'em, Tiger!" - Al Arnold

Obituary

Alan L. Arnold of Sheldon, WI passed away peacefully in his sleep of natural causes with his beloved wife Jane by his side on Saturday, August 3rd 2024. Alan was born on December 14th, 1941 in Edgerton, Wisconsin to Jess Herbert & Dorothy May (Niskern) Arnold as the second of three children. He is predeceased by both of his parents, his older sister Carol Mae Arnold who passed away in February of 2022, and his younger brother Randal Neil Arnold who recently passed away on July 8th, 2024.

To summarize Alan’s life & accomplishments: If he could dream it, he could do it. He saw his purpose in life as inspiring others to believe they could accomplish anything they set their minds to. He was born on a small dairy farm and lived the life of a typical farm kid milking cows, tending to the chickens, and making hay. As a child with severe allergies, he was delighted to discover he wasn't allergic to sheep, so he brought sheep to the family farm and even showed his prized sheep in both the Rock County Fair and Wisconsin State Fair.

He graduated first in his class at Kent State University and began his teaching career shortly after. Throughout his career he taught for many different school districts across Wisconsin including Milton, Kettle Moraine, Gilman, and Abbotsford. He taught every single grade K-12 (as well as teaching college), and he was also the principal at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. He was always looking for unique ways to get kids excited about learning and even brought in one of his sheep to school, demonstrating how to sheer it.

In between his various teaching and administration roles (not to mention serving in the Navy for two years), Alan was also a serial entrepreneur having started numerous business ventures including being a stock broker and a real estate investor, he opened an employee leasing company and a direct marketing company, he published magazines, and he also ran Arnold’s Berrifield Farm where he sold various berries & vegetables by the thousands of pounds. In his “spare time” while not busy with teaching or running his businesses, Alan’s favorite hobby was building & remodeling homes, four of which he designed and built from the ground up with his own two hands (and a good deal of help from his kids, as well as the local Amish community).

Regardless of his passion for starting businesses, farming, or building homes, Alan always came back to his core purpose - teaching. Upon his official “retirement” at the age of 62, Alan launched his most meaningful & successful venture, the Arnold Reading Clinic. Alan spent his remaining years helping struggling readers not only in Madison, WI where he opened several in-person clinics but also to students all over the country via Zoom. He became one of the world’s foremost experts on helping children with the most complicated forms of dyslexia learn how to read successfully. In the process he changed countless lives, giving hope to children and families who otherwise had very little.

Above all, Alan spent his life amassing his wealth not in the form of money or material possessions but instead in the form of having a positive impact on others and being a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, educator, and friend to many. Alan is survived by his wife Jane (Sutton) Arnold, his children Sheri (Jim) Shearer, Lauri (Dale) Rintelman, John (Julie) Nolte, Kate Nolte, and Zack (Robyn) Arnold, as well as his grandchildren Elyse Rintelman, Margaret Rintelman, Naomi (Elijah) Rintelman-Weaver, Iscah Rintelman, Samantha (Tommy) Carroll, and Elliot & Evelyn Arnold.

Alan’s celebration of life will be held on Saturday, August 10th at 2pm at N 1009 Marshall Road in Sheldon, WI at the local Amish schoolhouse. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made (via the link below) to the Al & Jane Arnold Charity Fund, a non-profit dedicated to providing literacy services to children in need.

For further information about the Celebration of Life service or to make a donation, please scroll below.

Celebration of Life

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