Deron Arnold

On Saturday, I attended the funeral of my friend Dawn’s brother. A number of years ago, Dawn lost her father to colon cancer. Her brother has been struggling physically for the past few years. And Dawn is currently taking care of her mom who has been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. Please pray for strength for Dawn. She’s one of the greatest people I know. . Dawn’s brother Deron has been fighting a battle with cystic fibrosis since he was 4 and a few months ago he received a double lung transplant. One of the most awesome things about Deron is that he kept his faith in spite of everything he went through physically. Even though he was in incredible pain and could barely breath, his faith in a sovereign and loving God remained. That’s what made the funeral wonderful even though it was still hard. There is no doubt in our minds that Deron is with God and having no trouble with his old body anymore. . The following is his Deron’s obituary and I will personally vouch for the fact that everything it claims about his life is true: . Deron was born on August 18, 1971, in Brookings, SD, the son of Eugene and Sharon (Johnson) Arnold. He was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was 4 years old. He grew up in Brookings, graduating from high school in 1990. Deron made it his goal to become a doctor at a young age. He studied very hard and was first in his class in high school and college, and received many honors in medical school. He received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from South Dakota State University in 1994 and attended medical school at University of South Dakota, Vermillion, receiving his MD in 1998. Deron was a wonderful person to be around. He was warm, fun, and surprisingly energetic considering his condition. Ever since he was little, he used his treatment time to read or study. He loved to read the Bible, particularly the Psalms, and various books about Christianity. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein were among his favorite authors. Later, he also used his treatment time to search the internet for various tidbits of interest – many of which he incorporated into his blog “Here In Time”. He always kept his childlike curiosity for learning. He enjoyed comparing and contrasting different versions of the Bible, and he enjoyed his profession so much that he often requested medical books as well as various study Bibles and other reference works for Christmas and birthday presents. An added benefit of his chosen profession was meeting Jan while they were both working at the same hospital. On June 13th, 1998, he was united in marriage to Jan Gustafson at Viking Covenant Church in Viking, Minnesota. They moved to Sioux Falls, SD, where he started his five-year residency in pathology. He completed his residency at the USD in Sioux Falls in 2003, and they moved to Willmar, MN. He was a pathologist with Minnesota Pathologists Charted at Rice Memorial Hospital. Deron was loved and encouraged first by his father and mother and later by his sister, wife and twin sons, Maxwell and Mark, who were born on December 31st, 2004. Being a husband and father was one of his life’s greatest desires – one not often fulfilled for someone with cystic fibrosis. It gave him a great deal of happiness, joy and fulfillment like no other experience in his life. Deron lived his life based on his faith in Jesus. He was loving, fair, honorable, helpful, persistent, and truthful. He loved his wife and was faithful to her. He loved his kids and spent as much time as he could playing with them, leading devotions at bedtime, and showing a Godly example to them. He worked hard and performed excellently as a pathologist, even though he never felt well. He tried to find humor where possible in his circumstances. Due to his treatments, it was difficult to spend much time with Deron. But for those who got the chance, even for a few minutes, the surprise was that although they may have thought they were visiting to uplift him, they were the ones who left inspired. Surviving are his wife, Jan of Willmar; sons, Maxwell and Mark; mother, Sharon Arnold of Brooking, SD; sister, Dawn (and Joel) Mason of Cedar Falls, IA; many uncles, aunts, and cousins; four nieces and one nephew. He was preceded in death by his father, Gene, and all grandparents. He is truly enjoying heaven. May his memory be blessed. . What will your obituary be able to say about your life? Remember it is not you writing it, but those left behind who saw how you lived your life.