Mary L. Arndt
October 22, 1951 – November 23, 2025
Mary L. Arndt, 74, of Sun City Center, passed away on Sunday, November 23, 2025. Mary was born in Seattle, WA, on October 22, 1951, to Ellen and Travis Massey, and married Leon E. Arndt of Minneapolis, MN, on December 28, 1972. Mary attended the University of MN, graduating in 1978 with degrees in both classics and pharmacy, and began a career as a clinical hospital pharmacist. In 1983 the couple moved to New England where Mary practiced hospital pharmacy in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. When the couple moved to Florida in 2004, after Leon retired from his career in the aerospace industry, Mary resumed her pharmacy practice until she retired in 2017. After spending their first 20 Florida years in Apollo Beach, they moved in 2024 to Freedom Plaza in Sun City Center for a more relaxed lifestyle. Mary was also a dedicated reader, with interests in history and the cultures of other countries, which proved invaluable on several European trips.
Despite their busy careers, the couple found time to travel extensively, visiting all 50 states and much of Canada, rafting the Grand Canyon, sea kayaking the Sea of Cortez off Baja California, visiting Tahiti and enjoying a photo safari into the southern regions of Africa from Johannesburg up to Victora Falls. They also were dedicated dog lovers, raising and loving Labrador retrievers and Siberian huskies for more than 50 years. Mary is survived by Leon Arndt, her husband of nearly 53 years; three nephews, Michael Arndt of Victoria, TX, Jeffrey Arndt of Pineland, TX, and Jesse Arndt of Rice, MN; and a niece, Meghan Wiebe of Sauk Rapids, MN. If anyone wishes to make a charitable donation in Mary’s memory, Moffitt Cancer Center or the Leukemia Lymphoma Foundation (now known as Blood Cancer United) would be appropriate, as well as Mary’s favorite charity, Dogs, Inc., formerly known as Southeast Guide Dogs.
Despite their busy careers, the couple found time to travel extensively, visiting all 50 states and much of Canada, rafting the Grand Canyon, sea kayaking the Sea of Cortez off Baja California, visiting Tahiti and enjoying a photo safari into the southern regions of Africa from Johannesburg up to Victora Falls. They also were dedicated dog lovers, raising and loving Labrador retrievers and Siberian huskies for more than 50 years. Mary is survived by Leon Arndt, her husband of nearly 53 years; three nephews, Michael Arndt of Victoria, TX, Jeffrey Arndt of Pineland, TX, and Jesse Arndt of Rice, MN; and a niece, Meghan Wiebe of Sauk Rapids, MN. If anyone wishes to make a charitable donation in Mary’s memory, Moffitt Cancer Center or the Leukemia Lymphoma Foundation (now known as Blood Cancer United) would be appropriate, as well as Mary’s favorite charity, Dogs, Inc., formerly known as Southeast Guide Dogs.