Arnold Obey ’68 M’73, a longtime marathon runner and retired Staten Island public school principal, died on March 22 from Covid-19 while on a trip in Puerto Rico. He was 73 years old. The Bronx native was a two-sport standout at Wagner in basketball and indoor track and field. In addition to his career as a teacher and school administrator, Arnold was an assistant coach for his alma mater’s men’s basketball team for three years, led the boys’ basketball squad at Staten Island Academy for eight years, and served as a high school referee. His track career in high school and college led to 38 consecutive runs in the New York City Marathon. He would have missed the 2012 marathon, when he suffered a stroke and underwent heart surgery, except that the competition was canceled that year because of Hurricane Sandy. Arnold was inducted into the Seahawk Hall of Fame in 1991. “Arnold Obey was one in a million,” said Staten Island Advance sportswriter Charlie De Biase Jr. “In all my time at the Advance, I can probably count on one hand how many people I’ve never heard a bad word about. Arnold, without a doubt, was one of them.”
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