Mary Fox Arnold devoted her life to science and health, but there were other sides to her.
Arnold, who died Oct. 31 at 85, was a gourmet cook, fought for minority rights and loved to give parties. Her favorite drink was single-malt scotch and her favorite food was chocolate.
In fact, before her cremation, her family put six Hershey’s kisses in her casket. It had to be Hershey’s because she was a distant relative of the Hershey Chocolate Co. founder.
When her family gathers for a memorial, they will serve scotch.
Arnold had a varied career that included teaching public health to doctors, working in a leper colony in Louisiana, teaching at universities and consulting for hospital boards.
Arnold quit at least two jobs because of discrimination: a company wouldn’t pay her the same as it paid males doing the same job, and a university refused to promote her to professor because she was a woman, said her brother, Sam Arnold of Denver.
“She was a pistol,” said Arnold, owner of the Fort restaurant near Morrison.
Mary Arnold often lectured on diseases and epidemics and how hospitals and the government needed to work together.
She taught at the University of Denver, the University of Utah and the University of Arizona. She advised hospital planners about what they could expect in the way of health care 10 years down the road, her brother said.
In the 1980s, the American Public Health Association honored her for lifetime contributions to public health.
Mary Arnold had an understanding of public relations. When she discussed health care with Hispanics in the San Luis Valley, she figured they would think she was a “highfalutin Anglo” coming from Denver to tell them what to do, said her niece Holly Arnold Kinney of Denver.
So Arnold took her knitting to the community meetings. “It was a conversation-starter, and she was more accepted by the people,” Kinney said.
Arnold was outspoken and funny, said her niece, and could laugh at tragedy. She lost her left leg to diabetes, and afterward wore a T-shirt that read, “I’m footloose and fancy free.”
Mary Fox Arnold was born June 25, 1920, in Pittsburgh and graduated from Benavon High School and Smith College. She had a double major in bacteriology and medical chemistry. She earned her doctorate in public health administration at the University of California, Berkeley.
In addition to her brother and niece, she is survived by another niece, Paula Newberry Arnold of Denver, and two great-nephews.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-820-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
