Obituary of Arnold Tanner

Arnold Tanner of Naples, FL, and formerly of Freehold, died Wednesday, November 22, 2017 at age ninety-nine. He was a loving and loyal husband, father, uncle and friend to many. Born in Freehold, he was married for 60 years to Margaret (nee White) Tanner who died in 2007, and is survived by a son, Dr. David E. Tanner, and daughter-in-law, Belinda Jean (Gabryl) Tanner, of North Attleborough, MA, as well as several nieces and nephews. Mr. Tanner began the practice of law in 1946 in Freehold after attending Rutgers University and receiving his law degree from New York University School of Law in 1940. He was the senior partner in the law firm of Tanner, McGovern and Vargas in Freehold and was a member of the Monmouth County Bar Association. During his law career, he served as attorney for the Township of Freehold, the Board of Education of the Borough of Freehold, and the Freehold Savings and Loan Association, and he was a Municipal Court Judge for Freehold and Manalapan Townships. He served terms as Secretary of the Freehold Board of Education, as a Director of the Freehold Savings and Loan, and as a Director and President of the Maplewood Cemetery Company of Freehold. Mr. Tanner was a veteran of the armed services, having served for over three years in the Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S. Army Military Police in Europe during World War II. He had been a Commander of Monmouth Post #54 of the American Legion and a President of the Freehold Lions Club. He was an active member of the First Baptist Church of Freehold where he served as President of the Diaconate Board and Secretary of the Board of Trustees, among other offices. In Naples, he was a member of the Moorings Presbyterian Church, and, at the time of his death, he was a resident of the Bentley Village retirement community. He was an avid tennis player for most of his adult life and a golfer in his later years. In New Jersey, he had been a member of the Holland Orchards Golf and Tennis Club and the Countryside Bath and Tennis Club; in Florida, he was a member of the Quail Creek Country Club, the Moorings Country Club, and the Naples Bath and Tennis Club. He was also a member of the Naples Art Association. A memorial service will be held at the Higgins Memorial Home, 20 Center Street, Freehold at 11am on Thursday, December 14, with internment to follow in the family plot in Maplewood Cemetery, Freehold. The family suggests, in lieu of flowers, that memorial donations be made to the First Baptist Church of Freehold, 81 West Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728.