John William Arkell

John died peacefully at his home in Stillwater surrounded by family. Preceded in death by his son, Case; and brothers, Tom and Richard. He is survived by his spouse of 55 years, Jan; and children, Cory (Shannon), Kellei (Eric) St. Martin and Kerry (Greg) Johnson; daughter in law, Jamie; twenty-five grands that called him Papa; brother, Jim (Kathy) and many nieces and nephews.

You would be hard pressed to find a person who did not like our Dad. He rarely had a harsh word for anyone. He was charismatic, humble, funny, honest, genuine, and just a really good person. In his 80 years he taught us so much about being kind, forgiveness, perseverance, and what it means to be family central. He loved all things family, sports, westerns and Belvedere gimlets.

Dad was a natural born competitor. Throughout much of his life, when it came to sports, he was either an athlete or a coach. In his college days John played football for the University of St. Thomas, where he was a star defensive end. He was given an offer by the Dallas Cowboys to try out, but he ran over and shattered his own ankle on a snowmobile trip, and the offer was rescinded. Having instilled that competitive spirit in his children, John and a few of his local friends started the Upper St. Croix under 12 traveling soccer program in Stillwater. There wasn’t a girls' team back then, so John encouraged girls to try out for the team. That included his daughters and their friends. It felt like he coached half the town of Stillwater. He also started an under 12 traveling baseball program in Stillwater. He went door knocking and found a field for “Co and company “. The field was so rural they called it the “tick field”. It was not uncommon to see him arrive at a game or practice in his red corvette, wearing a three-piece suit. For many years he also played competitive volleyball with his family called the Six Pack. It was after one of those games that he suffered his first heart attack. He was 40 years old and was told that the heart damage was so severe he would not live to be 50. One of his jobs from then on was to stay just far enough behind technology in order for him to be allowed to live the life that he was supposed to have.

His entrepreneurial spirit took him from land development to restauranteur/bar owner. He saw a need for lower income housing and started The Cottages in Stillwater. He moved onto many multi-family and single family housing developments including Eastport and The Lighthouse at Hudson Pier in WI., The Sanctuary in Stillwater and Carriage Station in Lake Elmo. He went on to build many townhome developments across the upper Midwest. His final project was an assisted living facility in Coon Rapids. He managed to employ or give employment opportunities to many of his children and their spouses. He was often described as a dreamer. He had the “big deal” ideas, and putting those ideas in motion was one of his greatest accomplishments. Retirement was not kind to him, as he constantly battled physical disabilities and a failing heart. The lessons he left for his children about determination and how to achieve a life well lived are our greatest gifts.

Always laughing, always teasing, always smiling, always enjoying the life he worked so hard to keep. He gave us a family gathering place on Deer Lake and multiple family all-inclusive vacations to far off destinations. He would do anything to keep us all together. He worked tirelessly to provide opportunities and memories for his children and grandchildren.

It was an absolute honor to be raised and loved by him. His enormous family will move forward, as he would expect, with big dreams and humility, while always remembering his booming laugh, generosity, GQ good looks, indominable work ethic, larger than life personality and beautiful smile.

Well done Dad.

A celebration of John's life will be Sunday, February 15, 2026, 1:00-5:00 P.M. at Bradshaw, 2800 Curve Crest Boulevard, Stillwater with a time of sharing at 3:00 P.M.