Arnold E. Huge passed away on April 20, 2025 at his home. Arnold was born Feb 11, 1936, in
Fort Wayne, the son of the late Wilbert E. and Dorothy L. (Jones) Huge. He graduated from
Concordia Lutheran High School in 1954 and studied at both Purdue University and Indiana
Institute of Technology to become an electrical engineer. He worked in the area of Food
Research and Engineering at Central Soya. After his retirement, he worked as an engineering
consultant.
Arnold’s engineer’s mind was grounded by curiosity and knowledge about the inner
workings of everything around him. He was preoccupied, some might say possessed,
by the need to tweak and tinker. One of his antics was discussed on an episode of
NPR’s Car Talk around the year 2000. From cars to clocks and everything in between,
Arnold would dismantle every mechanism he encountered in order to tailor it to his
specifications.
Starting when he was a young boy, Arnold spent years building and flying radio controlled
airplanes as a hobby. Taking after his father, he attained his Private Pilot License and flew family
and friends around the country. Arnold loved gardening and was always searching for the best
variety of tomato. He was an introvert who loved social gatherings. He had an unexpected and
delightful wit. He was an avid snow skier and for decades enjoyed the annual ski trips and
summer gatherings with the members of the Sitzmarks Ski Club to which he belonged.
His inquisitive spirit led him to the writings of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and the
Mystics. He attended a weekly Theosophy group and he yearned for connection with
dimensions beyond our own.
Arnold’s greatest passion in life was undoubtedly for classical music. He was a Fort
Wayne Philharmonic season ticket subscriber, and could be seen patronizing nearly
every classical music performance in Fort Wayne over the last seven decades. Richard
Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelunge and anything by Johann Sebastion Bach were some
of his favorites. In particular, he had a deep love of organ music. He built his own organ
in the early 1970’s and attended numerous international organ competitions across the
nation and abroad.
He is survived by his niece, Marie Elena Lyon; his nephews, Miles Briggs, Michael
(Jennifer Noe) Levine and Alan Levine; his grandnieces, Felicity Nicholson, Adelaine
(Jack) Belford and Chelsea Briggs; grandnephew, Benjamin Levine; great grandnieces,
Isla and Chloe Belford as well as cats Zinger and his gardening sidekick, Kitty Boy. He
was predeceased by his wife Linda E. Huge. Linda and Arnold married October 10,
1964.
In remembrance of Arnold’s life, the family asks that any memorial donations be given to the Fort Wayne Philharmonic or Humane Fort Wayne.
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