August 1, 1931 - September 10, 2017 For Coach Arbs, the ball is over the goal line, the final touchdown scored, the playbook lovingly closed after a darn good run for the self-professed "little old country boy" from the hills of West Virginia.

Born in 1931, to Glessie and Elmer Arbaugh in the Greenbrier Valley, he kept those mountains, hollers, and rivers alive in his heart. He grew up in and around Lewisburg, W.Va., and it was there that he met his life-long love, Twinkle Montgomery (or Edith, as some know her).

He served in Korea in the U.S. Marines and graduated from Greenbrier Military Academy.

In 1953, on a summer night, Jim took Twinkle out for an evening at the West Virginia State Fair - but instead of gliding in circles on Ferris wheels - they eloped. As the evening ended in a little church in Waynesboro, Va., they proffered vows to be lived out over the next sixty-four years then drove southeast to Charlottesville to settle in to a new home as students in the School of Education at the University of Virginia. Jim served as an athletic trainer after his football-playing start was ended by a shoulder injury.

They became young parents and raised four children, Michael Arbaugh, Linda Arbaugh Kinnahan, Fran Arbaugh, and Jim Arbaugh, Jr. Later, Jim wholeheartedly welcomed into the family Thomas Kinnahan, husband of Linda and Lynne Nichols, wife of Jim, Jr., and he greeted his granddaughter Chloe's birth with all the love in the world.

Jim began his long career of high school teaching and coaching in Powhatan, Virginia before returning to Charlottesville to coach football at Albemarle High School for many good years with his dear and steadfast friend Ralph Harrison. His sometimes-toughness was mingled with a soft-hearted warmth in the deep devotion he felt toward the young students and athletes he served. From them, he learned about the breadth and depth of human kindness, perseverance, and connection. At Western Albemarle High School in his final years of teaching, he coached the mellower game of golf and commanded the driving range, teaching students behind the wheel while Twinkle taught art at WAHS.

Once he retired from teaching, he upped his golf game and joined an irascible crew of fellow former football coaches at UVa's Birdwood Golf Course to "work" part time - and play a few rounds a week. In a long and full retirement, he swung at many a golf ball in the back yard of the family home during the fifty years he and Twinkle lived there. Their house, filled with antiques from Sunday afternoons prowling junk shops, was where they welcomed their children and granddaughter (and various pets, including his all-time favorite dogs, Bitsy and Jasmine).

He and Twinkle travelled far and wide - taking wine-rich trips to Italy, Spain, and France, enjoying good times with many, many friends made over many, many years in Charlottesville, driving back to his beautiful West Virginia mountains to laugh and share memories with family there.

In his final years, Jim spent Friday mornings with brush in hand in painting lessons with his Twinkle and joined by his old buddy, Joe May. He created brightly colored abstract paintings full of the circular rhythms of a long, long life.

Jim adored his wife with all of his heart, and she never ceased in his mind to be the most talented, beautiful, smart, kind woman in the world. He was a brother to his wife's Montgomery siblings, Herbert and wife, Katy Montgomery, Mary and husband, Paul Lindquist, Johnny and wife, Joyce Montgomery, and Joan Montgomery; and a beloved "Uncle Jimmy" to his nieces and nephew who, like his own children and their friends, often found his words of advice, whether invited or not, bracingly honest, inevitably helpful, and motivated by love.

He loved his children fiercely, instilling in them a belief in the bond of family and the tending necessary to keep that bond strong. Intensely loyal to his friends and family, he was generous with his warmth and laughter and, as those who knew him can attest, his unrestrained opinions. His granddaughter, Chloe Kinnahan brought him a special joy from the moment she showed up twenty-three years ago. She has always had a special place in his heart. She inherited his eyes - blue as the sky - and his heart - big as the moon. His family will love that heart forever, and for us, that light will always shine.

The family wishes to thank all friends and family who have helped in this passage as well as the golden hearts at the Colonnades Reminiscence neighborhood and the angels of the Hospice of the Piedmont.

Visitation with the family will be held from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. Saturday, September 16, 2017, at Hill & Wood Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Jim's name be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 1160 Pepsi Place, Suite 306, Charlottesville, VA 22901, or the Hospice of the Piedmont, 675 Peter Jefferson Parkway, Suite 300, Charlottesville, VA 22911, hopva.org.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.hillandwood.com.

Submitted by Sue Critzer Hughes