Fort Leavenworth’s matriarch dies at 96
Mrs. Lois Caroline Sayles Arter, age 96, of Lansing, Kansas died Aug. 4, 2024. She was born April 7, 1928, in Clyde, Ohio, and was the daughter of the late Ralph H. and Edna L. Sayles (nee Cunningham).
After high school, Lois entered Ohio University in 1946, where she met her future husband Robert Arter in their freshman year. While studying education there, she was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. She earned a bachelor’s of science in education in June 1950, and on Sept. 23, she and Robert married. Robert had received his regular Army commission as a second lieutenant in the infantry a mere two weeks before on Sept. 7, so they became an Army family on the first day of their marriage 73 years ago.
While Robert embarked on his first assignments in the Army, Lois began her teaching career in elementary education. In January 1952, Robert was deployed to the Korean War to join the 25th Infantry Division. In a story as old as the Army, Lois remained behind with a newborn baby girl keeping the family together while her Soldier was thousands of miles away. Upon his return they would welcome their son and later, when both children entered grade school, Lois would return to teaching in grades two and three.
Throughout her husband’s demanding Army career, Lois developed her own reputation as a serial volunteer, committing her support to such organizations as Army Community Services, Army Emergency Relief, the Red Cross, multiple Officer’s Wives Clubs, and as a U.S. Army Arlington Lady where she represented the chief of staff of the Army at funerals in Arlington National Cemetery. She was also a member of P.E.O., a nonprofit that supports women’s development through education, and a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 2009, she was awarded the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s Margaret C. Corbin Award for her lifelong volunteer efforts. Over the years she amassed other awards and recognition including recognition as a Melvin Jones Fellow by the Lions Club International; the “Talent of Leadership Award” from the Alpha Gamma Delta – Zeta Chapter (Ohio University); and when Lt. Gen. Arter retired from active duty in 1986, Lois received the highest award for military spouses at the time. More recently, in 2021, Lt. Gen. Robert and Lois Arter were honored with the dedication of the atrium area of the Lewis and Clark Center, home of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in their name. A portrait of Robert and Lois hangs in the atrium designating the area as “The Arter Atrium.”
Throughout all of their family’s moves around the world, Lois was the keeper of the proverbial flame, loved by her family and friends, and known to be an avid reader, a big fan of jigsaw puzzles, and as one who loved to write personal letters…by hand of course, because that’s the most personal touch. As a young girl Lois enjoyed Shirley Temple movies and wanted a Shirley Temple doll for Christmas. The doll never came, but years later, when they were stationed at 6th Army, in San Franciso, California, Lois had the chance to meet Ambassador Shirley Temple Black and was invited to her home in San Francisco. During that same period her adventurous side took her to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, where she watched the ships and clouds roll in under the bridge from the Pacific Ocean.
As a supportive Army spouse Lois had the opportunity to be not only the matriarch of her own family, but one to many others, as well a gracious host to dignitaries and military leaders around the world. While Robert was assigned to a Military Assistance Advisory Group in Denmark, she hosted the Danish Chief of Defense and Chief of the Armed Forces, and developed lasting relationships with many Danish families. She also once hosted Mrs. Douglas MacArthur, and shared a bowl of ice cream with General of the Army Omar Bradley and his wife, whom the Arters became friends with during their time at Fort Ord and in Washington, D.C.
After Robert’s retirement from the Army in 1986, he and Lois settled in the Leavenworth/Lansing community and continued their service to others. Having served at Fort Leavenworth from 1977-79, as deputy commandant of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Lt. Gen. Arter and Lois have since become mentors to multitudes of Fort Leavenworth leaders and their spouses, prompting one former commander to call them “the steady hand that guides Fort Leavenworth leadership.”
It has been said that Lois never had an ill word for anyone. Surely, living a life as an elementary school teacher, a mother, and an Army wife would confer the patience of Job on a person. Spending her 96 years on Earth serving a higher purpose with such patience and kindness and humor is an example for us all to follow.
Lois is survived by her best friend and husband of 73 years, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Arter, daughter Caroline, niece Anne Purcell, and nephew and his wife, John and Diedre Purcell. She was preceded in death by her parents Ralph H. and Edna L. Sayles, her son, Robert J. Arter, her brother David Sayles, sister and husband, Margaret and Donald Purcell, and sister and husband, Emily Sayles and Marshall Brown, and sister-in-law Nancy Jean Williams.
Visitation will be 5:00 to 7:00 P.M., Monday, August 12, 2024, at Davis Funeral Chapel. Funeral service will be 9:30 A.M Tuesday, August 13, 2024. at the Pioneer Chapel, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Burial will follow at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.
For those wishing to make a donation in remembrance of Lois, please consider a donation to the University of Kansas Health System Center for Advanced Heart Care. (https://www.kansashealthsystem.com/giving/ways-to-give/make-a-gift/heart-care)
