John Edward Arens ’34

Johnny, who retired in 1991 from Coupon Clearing Service in Costa Mesa, Calif., died Apr. 27, 2002, following triple-bypass surgery.

In addition to his business, which he acquired in 1969 and built into the second largest in the country, his hobby of racing ocean-going sailboats brought him international recognition and respect. He skippered his 51-ft. aluminum sloop with an 11-man crew in celebrated races off both US coasts, and to ports in Mexico, Hawaii, and Bermuda. In later years, "still alive and kicking, just not as hard as before," as he wrote a classmate, he favored golf, "although it has suffered from some 40 years of sailing." He also spent considerable time emailing back and forth with, among others, Warren Peters and John vanDyke.

In 1936, Johnny, a Plainfield, N.J., native, married Ruth Hamilton, a graduate of NYU, where he earned an MBA. The couple had three children, John '60, William, and Barbara.

The Class of 1934