By Deborah Larsen
Arnold Arve Pennanen
Arnold Arve Pennanen was born in Farmington, Michigan, on September 11, 1924, the son of Peter and Anna Nieminen Pennanen. The Pennanens moved to Rochester when Arnold was a teenager and lived on South Street. Arnold attended Rochester High School and graduated in the class of 1943.
In June 1943, Arnold entered the U.S. Marine Corps, one of five Pennanen brothers to serve in uniform during World War II. He was stationed with Marine Night Fighter Squadron 541 as an electrician in the Palau Islands of the South Pacific. Arnold was wounded in action in Palau on September 16, 1944, and was treated aboard the hospital ship USS Bountiful. He was released from military service in January 1946.
After the war, Arnold married, started a family, and worked as a machine operator. He remained a resident of the Rochester area for the rest of his life.
Arnold Arve Pennanen died at age 83 on November 12, 2007, and was laid to rest in Mount Avon Cemetery.