Louis C. Arp

Moline, Illinois
Dr. Louis C. Arp, Jr. of Moline, Illinois, and Naples, Florida, well known Moline Physician and Surgeon, died on Tuesday, December 5, 2006, in the care of his family in Moline, following an extended illness. He was 79 years old.
Services will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, December 9, at First Congregational Church, Moline. Burial will be in Moline Riverside Cemetery, where military honors will be presented by American Legion Post #246. Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. on Friday December 8, at Trimble Funeral and Cremation Center, Moline. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in memory of Dr. Arp to the American Parkinson Disease Association, 135 Parkinson Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10305 or a favorite charity.
Dr. Arp, a third generation surgeon, was born July, 1, 1927 in Moline, Illinois, the oldest of Dr. Louis Arp Sr. and Eleanor Harned Arp's three children. He attended high school at Shattuck School, Faribault, Minnesota, although he did not graduate. In 1944, at age 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy with some difficulty. He was successful upon his second attempt - after memorizing the color blindness test. He served 18 months as Seaman First Class aboard the USS Bennington and USS Salerno Bay, both aircraft carriers in the Pacific fleet. After the war, he attended Augustana College for one semester. He then attended the University of Iowa, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree and later graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
On August 12, 1950, he married Patricia Pinney of Clinton, Iowa, who was also a student at the University of Iowa. The couple lived in Baltimore, Maryland, for four years while Dr. Arp studied medicine and then moved to Chicago for a one year rotating internship at St. Luke's Hospital. In 1954, the family moved back to Iowa City, Iowa for Dr. Arp's surgery training at the University of Iowa and to complete his surgical residency at the Veteran's Hospital there.
The family settled in Moline in 1958 where Dr. Arp joined the medical practice of his father and uncle, Dr. August Henry Arp.
Dr. Arp served as a board member and president of the Rock Island County Medical Society; president of the medical staffs of Lutheran Hospital and Moline Public Hospital; a board member of the Moline Public Library and the Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club. In addition, he was a member of the board of Pinney Printing Company, Clinton, Iowa. He also served on the boards of Selective Service System, and Lutheran Hospital Foundation, later to become United and then Trinity. He was a member of the American College of Surgeons and was board certified in general surgery.
He was a lifelong member of The First Congregational Church, Moline, Illinois; a member of the Hole-in-the-Wall Golf Club, Naples, Florida; the Port Royal Beach Club, Naples, Florida; and the Swan Lake Club, Henry, Illinois.
Dr. Arp's favorite activity was traveling with family and hosting get¬ togethers annually at a cabin located in Clark, Colorado, near Steamboat Springs. He was an avid hunter, loved the outdoors and especially loved farming. He was a bird enthusiast long before bird watching became popular, a conservationist and a steward of the environment. Following his retirement in 1990, Dr. and Mrs. Arp spent their winters living in the family's Naples, Florida home.
His loving wife, Patricia, survives him along with his daughters and sons-in-law, Gretchen and Andrew Higgins of Morrison, Colorado, and Molly and Michael Newell of Davenport, Iowa, and his sons and daughters-in-law, Louis C. and Laura Arp III of Raleigh, North Carolina, and Charles Arp of Clinton, Iowa, along with five grandchildren, Allison Arp, Kelsey Arp, Tricia Higgins, Andrew Higgins and April Newell. Also surviving him is a sister and brothers-in-law, Josephine and Edward deSilva of Davenport, Iowa, and Edgar Folk of Iowa City. Dr. Arp was preceded in death by his parents and one sister Mary Folk.
The Arp family invites friends to share a story about him or light a candle in his memory at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com.