Mary Etta Hight
(April 21, 2010)

Mary Etta Hight, 78, of Huntington, WV, wife of William James Arnold, died Wednesday, April 21, 2010, at Cabell-Huntington Hospital. She was born in Athens, WV, the first child of John Clownie and Katherine Redmond Hight. Mary Etta earned her Ph.D. at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan; was a Fulbright Fellow in India; was a post-doctoral fellow at the Carnegie Natural History Museum in Pittsburgh, PA; and after 32 years of enthusiastic service in the Department of Biological Sciences, a Professor Emeritus at Marshall University. She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Francis Kahle, and brothers Walter and Richard. In addition to her husband, she is survived by her sister and brother-in-law Elizabeth and Bob Angelici, and brother and sister-in-law Charles and Dorothy Hight, as well as Jim's children Cynthia Arnold and her husband Phillip Whitten, and Timothy Arnold, his wife Jo Lynn, and their children Emily and Joseph. She is also survived by beloved nephews and nieces Pamela McGuire, Brian Hight, Karen and Scott Angelici, Michael and Patrick Hight, and John Kahle, as well as their spouses and children. In addition, Mary Etta leaves behind long-time colleagues in the sciences, well-enjoyed undergraduate and graduate students, the Double-X Club, and the faithful colleagues, friends, and students who served and attended her passing at Cabell-Huntington Hospital during her final illness. She especially enjoyed her friends in the West Virginia Nature Conservancy, the Charleston Chamber Music Society, the Highlands Conservancy, the Marshall University College of Fine Arts Music and All Stars, and the Huntington Garden Club. A graceful and gracious woman, she will be dearly missed. Donations may be made to the Ebenezer Medical Outreach at 1448 10th Avenue, Huntington, WV 25701, www.emohealth.org, or to the National Museum of the American Indian at www.NMAI.SI.edu. A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, May 14, 2010, from 5-8 p.m. in the Appalachian Hall at Heritage Farms in Huntington.  If you wish to attend the Celebration, please RSVP to MEcelebration@gmail.com by May 10, 2010.