Although it’s common to say “there was nobody like him!” when someone has passed away, the truth is that there will never be anyone who can quite match the spirit of Jim Arnold. He passed away in his sleep early Thursday morning, July 2nd, 2020.
James R. Arnold was born in Rome, Georgia to Hugh and Betty Arnold. After his sister Margaret and his brother Jeff, Jim was the youngest child and got away with all kinds of troublemaking. The family settled in Andover, Massachusetts in 1968, where Jim would go on to make a million friends and become a beloved part of the local community that he would cherish for his entire life.
By high school, Jim had become a stellar athlete and a star basketball player. Andover High was also where he met his future wife Beth.
With Beth, Jim met his match… in all of the ways. Jim and Beth knew how to work together and have fun together. Beth was always the only person who could put Jim in his place. He was in awe of her and decades later, he would still look at her across the room and remark, “isn’t she unbelievable?”
In 1988, Jim coached the Andover Nationals Little League team that won the state championship and made it all the way to the Little League World Series. That same summer, Jim and Beth welcomed their first son, Rory. Their second son, Connor, was born two years later in 1990.
Jim was also a newspaper reporter and columnist for the Eagle-Tribune before attending Harvard Divinity School.
In 1993, Jim founded Hoops For Hope after a visit to Sullivan Park where his son Rory asked him to fix up the park. Jim would do anything for his kids and remained fiercely loyal and protective even after they both became grown men.
In addition to rebuilding the basketball courts, Jim designed a competitive summer league tournament for local teams. Hoops For Hope was also created with the goal of providing work opportunities, job training, and summer programs for youths at risk. Since then, Hoops for Hope has served over 20,000 young people and adults in need and renovated basketball courts, gyms and baseball parks.
Jim went on to become the owner of Sport Court New England working alongside his son Connor, who will take over the business.
Jim will be remembered for his hilarious (and often inappropriate) sense of humor, commanding presence, and his unending ability to show and rise to the occasion for his family, friends, and community. Everyone has a Jim Arnold story.
Of death, Hemingway once wrote that every man experiences two. The first is that of the physical body and the second happens the last time someone speaks your name. With regard to Jim Arnold, he may outlive us all yet.