John Emile Arnedt of Wantage, N.J., and Jensen Beach, Fla., passed away Tuesday, March 2, 2021, in Jensen Beach after several years battling COPD.
Born in 1935 in Oakland, California, he was the only child of the late Emile Gustav Arnedt and Mabel Jane (Hipkins) Arnedt. John moved his family east in 1966 and was a proud Sussex County resident for over 50 years. John was educated at the University of California at Berkeley, where he received a bachelor of arts and master of arts in music, and the San Francisco Theological Seminary, where he received a master of divinity and was ordained a Presbyterian minister.
Over John’s nearly 86 years, he touched countless students, parishioners, musicians, and audiences with his humanity, deep spirituality, intelligence and wit, his musical talents, and his kind and generous nature. John’s career included stints as assistant pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Newark, N.J., teacher in the Newark Public Schools, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Branchville, director of the Sussex County Oratorio Society, head of the music department at Blair Academy, founder and Director Emeritus of The Water Gap Singers, organist and choir director at Panther Valley Ecumenical Church, and a lifelong composer and arranger of choral and instrumental music.
A lover of puns, he delighted in a good joke almost as much as he enjoyed a nice bowl of soup and a hefty slice of pie! (especially peach!). He was darned lucky to be married to two accomplished chefs. His musical compositions — whether for piano, bassoon and trumpet or full choir and orchestra — were as beautiful as they were difficult to play and sing. An avid New York Times crossworder, he rarely missed a puzzle — even on Saturdays! He enjoyed coffee at all hours of the day, both dependent upon and seemingly unaffected by the constant caffeine. He found his daughters’ additions of milk, sugar, and/or ice strange and quaint. A napper before it was trendy, he always wanted “just ten more minutes.”
Predeceased by his first wife, Eloise “Tish” Arnedt, John is survived by his beloved wife of more than 20 years, Susan Mazuy Martin; sons, Tyson (Cheryl) of New Jersey and Joshua of Maine; daughters, Rachel Arnedt of Connecticut and Anna Ring (Daniel) of Massachusetts; grandsons, Samuel Arnedt, Charles Arnedt, and Leo Sheinberg; granddaughter, Ruby Ring; stepsons, David (Ruth Ann Colby) Martin, and their children Annie, Maria, and Henry of West Virginia and Scott Martin and his son, Sayer of South Dakota.
A memorial service will be held at a future date.
Donations in John’s memory may be made to The Water Gap Singers, 57 Stillwater Road, Hardwick, NJ 07825; or The First Presbyterian Church of Branchville, PO Box 1, Branchville, NJ 07826.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Wood Funeral Home, Branchville, N.J.