1930 - 2016 Arney Lee Strickland, Sr., 86, died December 7, 2016. He was born on January 1, 1930, in a rural community near Henderson, Texas, the twelfth of 13 children born to Maybell Wilson Strickland and Clarence Edgar Strickland. Arney served in the U.S. Air Force, where he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. While still in the Air Force, having attended navigation school, he was asked to stay on and teach navigation in Harlingen, Texas. After military service, Arney received a BS, then a Master of Arts at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, in May, 1965. His PhD was awarded in May 1971 at Ball State University in Muncie Indiana. He returned to Lamar as chair of the English and Foreign Language Department, eventually retiring as Lamar University professor. Arney and his wife Bobbie spent the 1980-81 year at Jilin University, Changchun, China, where they both taught. They spent two years in Malaysia, where Arney taught for the Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC) while on leave from Lamar University. After that, Arney taught in Morocco and served as a consultant for TIEC in the Arab Emirates. In addition to his parents, Arney was preceded in death by his daughter, Elizabeth Ann (who died in infancy), and his twelve siblings. Arney is survived by his wife of 62 years, Bobbie Raye Strickland, their son Arney Lee Strickland, Jr., adopted son Xiao Qing Liu and his wife Keary, their sons Daniel and Evan, and many friends and relatives. Arney was a member of Calder Baptist Church in Beaumont, Texas, to which those interested may give memorial gifts to the Music Scholarship Fund. A memorial service will be held at Calder Baptist Church on January 2, 2017, 11:00 a.m., with visitation at 10:00 a.m.