Usetawuz 1 #1 November 15, 2012 Another legendary ‘pioneer’ has left us. Early 1960’s style and accuracy competitor Jim Arender (1960 World Champion in Style & 1962 Mens World Champion Overall) D-13 is gone. Fly free, my friend, fly free. _________________________________________ The older I get, the better I was! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,354 #2 November 15, 2012 Hi Useta, He was the first American ever to win a gold medal at a world meet - 1960. He was the first American to ever be the overall world champion - 1962. JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Usetawuz 1 #3 November 15, 2012 You're right! Might not seem like much now but in those early days it was one hell of an accomplishment! _________________________________________ The older I get, the better I was! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
danchapman 0 #4 December 6, 2012 Arender did a photo ad for the major print media in '63, Camel cigarettes. Was in Post and Life magazines. He wore a black pioneer jumpsuit with a rectangular orange patch on his right knee area. I was an impressionable 16 year old novice jumper, soon sporting my own black jumpsuit....with orange patch on my left knee, just to be different. JA avoided jumping with others, didn't want anyone watching his tight frop position while practicing for his style events. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dks13827 3 #5 December 7, 2012 I remember well the Camels and the girls !! Jim was very good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,354 #6 March 4, 2013 Hi Frank, I was wondering why there was no mention of Jim in PARACHUTIST, so I called today and talked to Jim Hayhurst; he had no idea that Jim had died. Hayhurst just sent me this: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/santafenewmexican/obituary.aspx?pid=161201514#fbLoggedOut He said that they will run something in the April issue. JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Usetawuz 1 #7 March 11, 2013 Jerry, I was surprised no one at USPA knew that Jim had passed but when I gave it some thought it didn't seem so surprising. As a 70-something, no longer active parachutist he certainly was no longer in the spotlight. I'm glad USPA will run an article in the April edition. We old-timers remember the old-timers. _________________________________________ The older I get, the better I was! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnSherman 1 #8 March 11, 2013 QuoteArender did a photo ad for the major print media in '63, Camel cigarettes. When I was very young, I was in Times Square New York and there right above me was Jim smoking a Camel and blowing smoke rings. The smoke rings were about 20 feet in diameter and came from a billboard which pictured Jim in his jump suit. I was impressed. I finally met Jim at the World meet in Gap and got to know my hero. I wish I could find the pictures we took then. If I do I will post one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Usetawuz 1 #9 March 11, 2013 Yeah! That was one hell of an impressive 'billboard' in Times Square. I remember the first time I saw it. I just stood there staring up at it. _________________________________________ The older I get, the better I was! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpoxon 0 #10 May 31, 2013 Nice one TK. From http://tbo.com/pasco-county/champion-parachutists-ashes-spread-sky-high-b82498035z1 QuoteBY GARY S. HATRICK Tribune correspondent Published: May 31, 2013 ZEPHYRHILLS Skydiving friends gave a heavenly send-off to Jim Arender on Thursday morning, scattering his ashes high above Skydive City. Fifteen skydivers joined a free-fall formation where Arender's ashes were released after a jump from 13,500 feet. Arender, a member of the Army Parachute Team, died in November at the age of 73. He was considered a pioneering skydiver. In 1960, he was the first U.S. citizen to win a gold medal at a world skydiving championship. Two years later, Arender was the first American to become the overall world champion. Before the memorial jump, Skydive City owner T.K. Hayes presented a certificate from Ed Scott, executive director of the U.S. Parachute Association, to Arender's brother, Eric. The certificate read: “It is my honor and privilege to recognize an outstanding American and member of USPA who as a competitor made a significant contribution to our sport.” Eric Arender said his brother enlisted in the Army soon after graduating from high school. Arender served as a sergeant in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. “I think he didn't even know how to spell skydive much less do it until he got in the Army,” Eric said. “He taught me how to swim. I used to marvel as he was going off the high-dive; he'd seem like he was suspended in air. He did it with grace. He was a talented athlete.” Several of Jim Arender's friends attended the memorial ceremony. Lenny Waugh, 80, an old friend who organized the memorial jump, was with Arender in his final days. Waugh, one of the original Navy SEALs, met Arender in 1959. Arender was his skydiving instructor. “He was a genuinely good instructor. I learned a lot from him,” he said. Arender died Nov. 14 at Bay Pines VA Medical Center. He was born in Stillwater, Okla., and also lived in Sante Fe, N.M. Waugh talked Arender into moving from Sante Fe to Gulfport three years ago. Arender had a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and Waugh helped transport him to the doctor. Another friend, Muriel Simbro, moved to Gulfport from Idaho to help care for Arender. Simbro, 86, who learned her skydiving skills from Arender, was the first woman to attain a skydiving expert rating. Simbro began skydiving with her husband, Hank, and grew to love the sport. She was a 2012 inductee into the National Skydiving Museum Hall of Fame. Dave Hanson, of St. Petersburg, jumped with Arender in the early 1960s when they were both civilian skydiving enthusiasts. He tells a special story of a jump in 1962. “We jumped for President Kennedy when he visited in Palm Springs, Calif. We jumped a number of times together, but that was the most memorable jump.” Hanson said. “Jim and I landed close to the taxi strip, and … I went down on one knee, but it looked like it was planned that way, like I was kneeling to the president. Then we both popped up and hand-saluted him, and he stood up and saluted us back.” Waugh praised Hayes for his work on the ceremony. “Lenny Waugh approached me about a month ago,” Hayes said. Hayes said Waugh asked him, “What's this going to cost me.” Hayes told Waugh it would not cost him anything. “Jim was a great pioneer in our sport,” Hayes said. “These guys deserve every bit of respect we can give them.”Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Claude Rüeger 0 #11 October 27, 2020 Le 31/05/2013 à 10:31, cpoxon a déclaré: Nice one TK. De http://tbo.com/pasco-county/champion-parachutists-ashes-spread-sky-high-b82498035z1 Si tardivement, je suis triste d'apprendre le décès de Jim Arender. Nous avions le même âge. Je m'appelle Claude Rüeger, 16.10.1939, donc à ce jour 81 ans. J'habite la ville de Fribourg en Suisse. J'ai fait partie de l'équipe nationale suisse de parachutisme en 1962 et j'ai participé aux SIXTH WORD SPORT PARACHUTING CHAMPIONSHIPS à Orange Mass. Mon numéro de participant était 99. Je garde un excellent souvenir de Jim que j'ai côtoyé ainsi que de toute l'équipe américaine puisque leur tente était proche de celle des suisses. En fin de championnats, avec Jim nous avons échangés nos combinaisons blanches. J'ai sauté durant des années avec sa combinaison et avec son souvenir en mémoire. Claude Rüeger https://www.amicaleaviation4.ch/html/para_8.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,439 #12 October 27, 2020 Translation: If late, I'm sad to hear of the death of Jim Arender; we're the same age. I'm Claude Rueger, born 16-10-1939, so I'm 81. I live in the town of Fribourg in Switzerland. I was part of the Swiss parachute team in 1962 and participated in the sixth world sport parachuting championships in Orange, Mass. My competitor number was 99. I have fond memories of Jim whom I worked with as well as the entire American team, since our tents were so close together. At the end of the competition, Jim and I exchanged our white competition suits.I used it for years, thinking of him. Claude Rüeger https://www.amicaleaviation4.ch/html/para_8.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WV177RG 19 #13 October 30, 2020 Excerpt from the PARACHUTE from balloons to skydiving James R. Greenwood/© 1964/E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. "Champions and Showmen: Born in 1939 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, also the birthplace of Astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jim Arender typifies the all-American-boy image. He entered the Army after a year of college as a premed student, and by choice wound up in the 82nd Airborne Division. In 1958 he became a member of the original Strategic Army Corps (STRAC) parachute team formed at Fort Bragg. And two years later he participated in America’s first successful six-man baton pass from 30,000 feet. By the time he had fulfilled his military obligation, Jim Arender had won a host of parachuting awards and honors. As a civilian, Arender competed as a member of the United States team in the 1961 international invitational meet at La Ferté-Gaucher, France. The team swept all five first-place trophies, the best showing ever made by an American team in world parachuting up to that time. Probably Jim Arender’s most significant triumph so far in competition was winning the world overall parachuting championship in the men’s division at the 1962 international event in Orange, Massachusetts.” Jim Arender and Muriel Simbro (cited earlier in this thread) Photo credits: Bob Buquor--See also: Bob Buquor Memorial Star Crest Awards https://www.starcrestawards.com/under-windsock/bob-buquor/ 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michaelmullins 81 #14 November 7, 2020 Great guy, I have his signature on a jump. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SethInMI 173 #15 November 10, 2020 On 11/6/2020 at 7:48 PM, michaelmullins said: Great guy <camel ad with jim> thanks for posting that ad. what a great piece of history; a view into a different time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
