Obituary of Arthur Owen Wold

Arthur O. Wold died unexpectedly on April 10, 2022 in Iowa City. He was 24 years old. Arthur attended Iowa City schools (Shimek, South East, City), graduating when he was 16. He enrolled at the University of Iowa the following year. He loved his friends and family, and especially enjoyed playing Magic The Gathering™ and videogames with them, and watching eSports. Arthur was intense, brilliant, quirky, imaginative, creative, analytical, and insightful. He read widely, had a spectacular vocabulary, and always spoke his mind. He cared deeply about social justice. He loved to share funny stories, comics and critical commentary. His greatest passion was research in paleoanthropology (https://dare.research.uiowa.edu/wold-arthur/.) He was happiest when working with other students, staff and professors in the UI Department of Anthropology - whether in laboratories in Macbride Hall, consulting the Museum of Natural History or the Office of the State Archaeologist, or excavating at Woodpecker Cave Field Camp and analyzing Late Woodland artifacts. After completing his current project, he looked forward to exploring how low genetic diversity contributed to fitness and extinction, particularly for Neanderthals. His parents, Madeline Shea and Marc Wold, and brother Michael Wold will receive guests at Gay and Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service (2720 Muscatine Ave., Iowa City, gayandciha.com) on Sunday, May 29. Visitation will be held from 2-4 PM, followed by a Celebration of Life starting at 4 PM with refreshments and remarks from friends and family. We invite you to share a funny or memorable anecdote about Arthur. He loved bright colors, so we encourage you to wear your favorites. For those who might wish to make a donation in his honor, please consider the Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates (ICRU) (http://icru.research.uiowa.edu/support-icru) or the Dept. of Anthropology at the University of Iowa, or an organization that protects archaeological records or the environment.