- Date Of Birth: May 8, 1951
- Date Of Death: February 24, 2021
- City: Orange
- State: New Jersey
Maureen “Mimi” Arnold
1951-2021
Maureen “Mimi” Arnold, 69. of Okeechobee, FL, gently passed away Wednesday, February 24, 2021, at Hospice of Okeechobee. Mimi was born May 8, 1951, in Orange, NJ to the late Joseph P. and Elaine Dorothy (Peck) Bodei. She was also predeceased by her oldest brother, Paul Bodei, in November 2019.
Mimi is survived by her husband of 36 years, Keith “Kit” Arnold, two brothers, Brian (Valerie) and Peter (Eleanor), her widowed sister-in-law, Linda, and many other relatives from both sides of the family, including a multitude of nieces and nephews and younger generation family members. She loved being “Aunt Mimi”.
She was raised in Short Hills, NJ, and spent many summer days of her youth at the Jersey shore, where her family had a cottage at Lanoka Harbor in the Toms River area. In 1970 Mimi graduated from Milburn High School. Following high school, she worked at Macy’s Department Store and later became a buyer for the company. She also had an interest in working in the travel industry and began training/working part-time at a local Travel Agency. Eventually, she became the owner of her own Travel Agency in New Jersey, and later, having relocated to the Boston, MA area, managed another agency for a number of years. This career in travel afforded her the opportunity to enjoy numerous adventures and excursions to five continents worldwide over the years. She was also a Caribbean travel expert and visited nearly all the destinations in that area with the exception of Cuba. She loved to travel.
Mimi enjoyed many personal pastimes, including arts and crafts, painting, weaving, antiquing, furniture restoration, gardening of all sorts, not to forget cooking, among many other activities. She was an outdoor enthusiast, who genuinely enjoyed nature and wildlife, and experienced many adventures while camping, trekking, backpacking, canoeing and kayaking, and downhill/cross country skiing in many areas of North America and the world.
As a child, Mimi had a pony, and one of her lifelong passions became working with horses. Over time, she became a skilled horsewoman, which led to a desire to use horses to help people. She became certified in equine therapy for individuals with disabilities while still living in Massachusetts. Later, as a Florida resident, this led to the establishment of Okeechobee Special Equestrian (OSE), a not-for-profit program serving the Okeechobee County area from 2001 to 2017. This ranch-based program had 6-7 horses and a number of other therapy animals. Both mounted and unmounted horse therapy programs were offered. Donations, funds, and grants were used to support OSE. Additionally, the success of this program was due in large part to the many caring volunteers, who gave of their time to make everything work. The volunteers included local Okeechobee adults and youth, men and women, boys and girls, not to forget annual winter visitors to our area who contributed as well. Mimi made many lifelong friends and acquaintances as a result of the volunteers assisting her program.
Simply stated, Mimi enjoyed meeting people and loved life. A life well-lived.
A gathering of family and friends to celebrate Mimi’s life will be arranged at an appropriate future date post-pandemic.
Lastly, a special thank you to Raulerson Hospital ICU doctors and medical staff and Hospice of Okeechobee personnel for making Mimi’s last days as comfortable as possible. Their expertise, professionalism, ability to communicate, and kindness were exemplary.
