ARNOLD VITARBO 86 years young, passed away on September 14, 2022 with his wife of 66

years, Fujie by his side. Born on January 31, 1936 in the Bronx, New York to Vito and Elizabeth

(Voswinkle) Vitarbo, he was the youngest brother to Dewey, Rocco and Delores. All preceded him in

death and are having a great family reunion now.

A lifelong Yankee fan but never a city boy, he was often found escaping the city with his cousin

Richard (Dickey) to hunt and fish. Both escaped as soon as possible and joined the military. My father

joined the Marines at 17 and never spent another night in the city. After 10 years in the Marines he was

recruited by the Air Force for another 10 years as a Weapons Specialist and Shooting Instructor in both

branches. He was also involved in the Sniper Program while in the Marine Corps.

Although he was never one to boast about his accomplishments, he was very accomplished. He

was on several USA shooting teams for the World Championships and Pan American Games (gold in

1967) and took 4th as a member of the 1968 USA Olympic Pistol Team in Mexico City. From 1991 to

1994 he was the National Shooting Coach and coached the 1992 Olympic Team in Barcelona, Spain.

He was certified as an Advanced Instructor by USAS/NRA (also certified referee and member of the

Coach Development Staff) and was a Master Instructor for the CMP in both rifle and pistol. He

conducted shooting camps, clinics and matches for these organizations in many parts of the United

States, Puerto Rico and Mexico. He coached the University of Utah Pistol Team and oversaw the Utah

Summer Games shooting events.

Retiring after 20 years in the military, he decided to go to college and graduated from the

University of Hawaii with a degree in Japanese. Arnold worked as a Volkswagen mechanic, taught

Japanese courses at the Oregon Institute of Technology, and began his own successful company making

custom gun grips.

He always loved planes and flying and built model planes since he was a boy. The planes got

larger until he was making quarter sized scale radio controlled planes. He even got his pilot license but

stopped flying due to health issues.

Arnold was born and raised a Catholic but was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter Day Saints by a fellow shooting instructor. Always a history buff, he became interested when he

talked about the pioneers and genealogy. Our family was taught the gospel by 2 sister missionaries and

then baptized and a year later sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple. Arnold served in many church

callings, including serving as a Seventy. He served as a temple worker in various temples with Fujie by

his side. Genealogy always interested him and he has traced our family back as far as he could; being

stopped by ancestors that were adopted. He served a full time couple mission at the church's Family

History Library in Salt Lake City. Being fluent in both Japanese and Italian, he was able to assist many

visitors with their searches. He and Fujie continued to spend hours daily translating church materials

into Italian and Japanese until just a few months before his death.

He is survived by his wife Fujie, daughter Laura (Kevin) Howell, and son Donald (Sharon)

Vitarbo as well as 3 granddaughters (Shannon, Shawna (Guy) and Danielle), 2 step grandsons (Tyson

and Travis) 4 great grandchildren (Lucas, Lana, Emmerson and TraZiais) and numerous other beloved

family members.

Funeral services will be held at 3 pm on Friday September 30, 2022 in the LDS chapel (1390 E

Midvalley Rd in Enoch). Services will be streamed at

https://zoom.us/j/96627236546?pwd=cTlhaWtoTm1veWhLV052amlXSXM3QT09