Shrewsbury/Northborough

Malcolm Hudson Arbour, age 89, of Shrewsbury, died peacefully while sleeping in his home on April 27, 2016. He is predeceased by his beloved wife of 63 years Jane Wheaton Arbour, his parents Mildred Alida (Jacobson) and George U. Arbour of Worcester, and his brother-in-law Robert Bradford Wheaton.

He is survived by his children Susan Moreno and her husband Phillip of Glendale, Arizona, Bruce Wheaton Arbour of Northborough, Keith Bradford Arbour and his wife Nancy Hallock of Cambridge, Jane Whitney Pond and her partner Thomas Lowe of Northborough, five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, sister-in-law Barbara K. Wheaton of Lexington, niece Catherine Wheaton Saines of Brookline, nephews Joseph Wheaton of Becket, and Henry Wheaton of Westhampton, and a great-nephew. He loved their company and kept up with the news of all their lives until his very last day. He was an exceptionally fine husband, father, grandfather, and friend.

Educated in Worcester, Malcolm Arbour enlisted in the United States Navy as soon as age restrictions allowed, and served honorably during WWII with the Naval Air Force on Whitby Island, Wash., Kodiak, and Attu, in the Territory of Alaska. Returning to Worcester after the War, he worked briefly as a draughtsman at the Norton Co., then assumed management of his wife's family's Worcester business, L.B. Wheaton Inc. He guided Wheaton's for the next 43 years, and retired as its President. For many years his professional and amateur photographic customers regularly gathered in his office on Friday evenings to discuss their work and travels. For over 40 years he was a member of Worcester's Rotary Club.

In 1949 he married Jane Wheaton of White Plains, N.Y., and Worcester, at Middle Haddam, Connecticut, where his wife's parents then lived. They raised their four children in Northborough, and retired to Shrewsbury. During seven years of their children's youths they spent winter weekends and summers in Jamaica, Vermont, near Stratton Mountain. There Mr. Arbour designed and built entirely by himself a sleek modern addition to their cabin on Pike's Falls Road. From seven years of age, when he taught himself to ski on Fairlawn Hospital's sloping lawns, Mr. Arbour was an enthusiastic skier who revelled in every day spent skiing with family and friends. Before he retired he had skied on over 100 mountains throughout North America and Europe. During the 1970s he chartered a large jet each winter with his late friend Tony Camerota of Westboro, and took skiers from Worcester, Westboro, and Northborough to resorts in Italy, France, and Switzerland. For over three decades he skied Mt. Washington's Tuckerman's Ravine each spring.

During the 17 years of their retirement together Malcolm and Jane Arbour enjoyed traveling to Europe and throughout New England. Wherever they went they made new friends and kept all their old ones. They delighted in returning home and sharing what they'd encountered with their family and friends, and in listening to stories of everyone else's adventures. They were supremely blessed together, just as their children were in them, and in every individual member of the wonderful company they kept.

Funeral arrangements are private, under the direction of Hays Funeral Home of Northborough. For online condolences, please visit:

www.haysfuneralhome.com