An obituary was published in Montgomery Newspapers in February 2020
A visionary businessman with a passion for building community, Arnold Elton Trueblood died February 8 at Foulkeways at Gwynedd at the age of 90 after several years of declining health. Founder of a high-end residential construction company and a land development business, he earned recognition for his work in both areas. Locally he introduced the concept of cluster zoning, which preserves open land even as new homes are constructed. His Woodbridge Meadow community in Penllyn remains a vibrant village with ample greenspace and community trails. Woodbridge Meadow won the Outstanding Land Development Award from the Montgomery County Planning Commission. Over the years, he was honored for his work as both a builder and a developer. His firm received a Best Contemporary Prototype award from the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) in 1973 for a house he built in partnership with architect Lynn C. Taylor on Woodspring Lane in Gwynedd Valley in 1973, and later a Best Small House Award from the AIA (published by House Beautiful magazine) for a residence in Blue Bell. Another project in partnership with Lynn Taylor that won a Montgomery County Planning Commission award was the Spring House Village Center, a shopping center that repurposed a former cow barn and ice cream manufacturing operation, and which was honored as the best small themed shopping center in the United States. A committed supporter of contemporary architecture, he nevertheless took on the challenge of many historic renovations including restoring a house on Philadelphia’s Elfreth’s Alley, the nation’s oldest continuously inhabited street, a national landmark. Trueblood also gave generously of his time to public service, in many cases with a Quaker theme. He served for many years on the Board of Directors at Jeanes Hospital, an institution founded in 1928 through the will of noted Quaker Philanthropist Anna T. Jeanes. The hospital eventually became part of Temple Health. When a gift of land was made to Gwynedd Friends Meeting, where he and his family belonged, he served on the Founding Committee that created Foulkeways at Gwynedd, one of the first continuing care retirement communities in the country. He served for many years on the Foulkeways Board, and in 2006, he and his wife, Caroline, moved there as residents. He was a dedicated supporter in many ways of Gwynedd Meeting, serving on numerous committees including many years as Property Clerk. His professional and private commitments came together in a role as chairman of the Lower Gwynedd Township Recreation Committee. A firm believer in promoting the useful appreciation of the outdoors he initiated the Lower Gwynedd Trail System, to which he contributed many easements on building subdivisions his company created. He loved water features and built many of the ponds dotting Lower Gwynedd. Arnold was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, the son of D. Elton and Pauline Goodenow Trueblood. His father was beginning a notable career there as an educator and writer by serving as Dean of Men at Guilford College, a Quaker institution. His family traveled as his academic career progressed, and Arnold ultimately grew up at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, where his father served as chaplain as well as chairman of the philosophy department. As a boy, Arnold traveled east by train to attend Quaker schools, starting at Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in grade eight. Later, Arnold attended Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, another Quaker school with important family roots. He married his childhood sweetheart, Caroline Sargent Furnas, also the product of a Quaker family, in her family home in Richmond in 1951. The new couple made a decision to settle in the East, living in Montgomery County. Ultimately, they built a house on high ground along the Trewellyn Creek that had a unique Quaker history of its own. It was part of the original grant by Native Americans to William Penn who re-granted it in turn to the Evans family, original settlers in the area. As a result, the Trueblood family was the first ever to pay for the property, purchasing it from the late Horace Evans in 1959. Arnold designed and built a house that expressed his love of contemporary architecture as well as his sense of history. When he learned that Philadelphia was replacing sidewalks in the oldest part of the city, he collected the discarded 17th century material originally used as ship ballast. He repurposed the old brick into floors, a terrace and retaining walls. He had an instinctive sense of how to orient a building to create compelling space. To convince his highly skeptical wife that this raw, wooded land would make an ideal home, he had a tree cut down, leaving a five-foot stump indicating where the living room floor would be and had her climb a ladder to see the view from its future windows. That land was divided into four lots and each became a home to one of a group of close friends, all members of Gwynedd Meeting. A fifth house, also built by the Trueblood Company, later extended the neighborhood across the Trewellyn. He always conceived of housing as community first, later including walking trails in developments to give residents useful outdoor space. He built with humor as well as utility—he sculpted racing cars from sand for his children during summer vacations in Avalon in New Jersey. He was highly organized and intensely physical, a talented skier who taught his children to sail in a bathtub-sized turnabout at Lake Paupac in the Poconos, another Quaker community created by a collection of friends after World War II. There he built with his own hands a family summer house on high land selected by his mother, with a small cabin that served as a library for his father, who was a best-selling author as well as a professor. At his family’s home in Gwynedd Valley, Arnold created what is believed to be the first regulation bowling green in the area, as well as the first zip line in the region running from a terrace behind the house to a lawn across the Trewellyn. Joined to his appreciation for mid-century modern design was a deep respect for craftsmanship. He made it a signature of his construction work, and he himself became an accomplished stone mason and brick-layer, a pastime he contributed with pleasure to the homes of his friends and family members, building chimneys, laying pathways and terraces. He served in many roles to preserve and protect the historic Gwynedd Friends meeting house he and his family belonged to since coming to the area in the 1950s and was instrumental in a successful effort to preserve the 18th century Beaumont House, an old stone farmhouse close to Route 202. Eventually the structure was moved (as the highway expanded) and still serves as a guesthouse for the Foulkeways community. He is survived by five children; Ann Trueblood Raper (David) of Summerfield, North Carolina; David Trueblood (Michael Flier) of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Eric Trueblood (Linda) of Lincoln, Virginia; Neil Trueblood of Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania; and Jonathan Trueblood (Katrina) of Bedminster, Pennsylvania. He and Caroline had ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Arnold is also survived by two brothers, D. Martin Trueblood of Foulkeways at Gwynedd and Samuel J. Trueblood of Exton, Pennsylvania; and a sister, Elizabeth Trueblood Derr of Oxford, Pennsylvania. A memorial service will be held at Gwynedd Meeting to celebrate his life on Saturday, March 7, at 3:30 p.m. Contributions may be made in Arnold Trueblood’s memory to Gwynedd Friends Meeting, 1101 Dekalb Pike, Gwynedd PA 19454.
3 An obituary was published in Friends Journal on 1 October 2020
Arnold Elton Trueblood
October 1, 2020
By Staff
Trueblood—Arnold Elton Trueblood, 90, on February 8, 2020, at Foulkeways in Gwynedd, Pa. The second son of D. Elton and Pauline Goodenow Trueblood, Arnold was born on January 2, 1930, in Greensboro, N.C., where his father was dean of men at Guilford College. His family moved frequently, living on the campus of Haverford College in Pennsylvania, next to Rufus Jones; and then at Stanford University in California, where his father served as chaplain and chairman of the Philosophy Department. At age ten, Arnold built a cabin, along with his older brother, Martin, in the backyard—his first house in a long career as a visionary builder and community developer.
As a boy, Arnold traveled east from California by train to attend Olney Friends School in Barnesville, Ohio, and Westtown School near West Chester, Pa. Later, after an almost fatal illness, Arnold attended Earlham College in Richmond, Ind. He married his childhood sweetheart, Caroline Sargent Furnas, in her family home in Richmond in 1951. The new couple made a decision to settle in the east, near Gwynedd (Pa.) Meeting. Ultimately, they built a house along the Trewellyn Creek on high ground that had a unique Quaker history. It was part of the original grant by Native Americans to William Penn, who re-granted it in turn to the Evans family, original settlers in the area. As a result, the Trueblood family was the first ever to pay for the property, purchasing it from the late Horace Evans in 1959.
Founder of a residential construction company and land development business, Arnold earned recognition for his work in both areas. His firm received a Best Contemporary Prototype Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1973, and a Best Small House Award from AIA. Another award-winning project was the Spring House Village Shopping Center, which repurposed a former cow barn and ice cream manufacturing operation, honored as the best small, themed shopping center in the United States.
Arnold gave generously of his time to public service. He served for many years on the Board of Jeanes Hospital in Philadelphia. When a gift of land was made to Gwynedd Meeting, he and Caroline served on the Founding Committee that created Foulkeways in 1967, one of the first Quaker continuing care retirement communities in the country. He served many years on the Foulkeways Board. He was a dedicated member of Gwynedd Meeting, serving on numerous committees, including as clerk of the Property Committee. His professional and private commitments came together when he served as chairman of the Lower Gwynedd Township Recreation Committee. A firm believer in promoting the useful appreciation of the outdoors, he initiated the Lower Gwynedd trail system.
At Lake Paupac, a Quaker retreat in the Pocono Mountains created in 1948, he built a family summer house and a small cabin that served as a library for his father. Arnold loved spending time there with family and friends. He and Caroline worked as resident managers of the Paupac Lodge in the early ’50s. An accomplished stone mason and bricklayer, he built fireplaces, chimneys, walkways, terraces, and walls, a pastime he contributed with pleasure to the homes of his friends and family members at Paupac and many other places.
Arnold is survived by his wife of 69 years, Caroline Trueblood; five children, Ann Trueblood Raper (David), David Trueblood (Michael Flier), Eric Trueblood (Linda), Neil Trueblood, and Jonathan Trueblood (Katrina); ten grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; a brother, Samuel J. Trueblood (Mary Ellen); a sister, Elizabeth Trueblood Derr (Dan); and a sister-in-law, Margaret Trueblood. His brother D. Martin Trueblood died in April 2020 (see next milestone).
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