Arthur Marvel Lassek, Jr.

Arthur Marvel Lassek, Jr., 90, of Beaufort, North Carolina, passed away on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.

Arthur - known simply and universally as "Pop" - lived a life that was carefully carved, well-run, deeply rooted, and joyfully tended.

He was born on August 9, 1935, in Dayton, Washington, delivered by his great-uncle, Dr. William Day, after his mother traveled by train across the country from Charleston, South Carolina. The family had an apple orchard in Washington State, but Charleston shaped his early boyhood, where he grew up from 1935 to 1948. He was the son of Arthur Marvel Lassek, Sr. and Dorothy Jones Lassek, and from them inherited both steadiness and grit.

Nine years after his own arrival, he was promoted to big brother - a role he took seriously and playfully in equal measure. He taught his baby brother, Will, how to box by dropping to his knees so they could spar eye to eye. He taught him how to throw a football, how to bait a hook, - and perhaps unintentionally - how to tag along on dates, as he became the unofficial third wheel during many of Pop's early outings. Their bond began in childhood and carried forward through a lifetime of shared stories and steady brotherhood.

In 1948, the family moved north to Massachusetts. He graduated from Lexington High School in 1954, earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Massachusetts in 1958, and a DDS from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in 1963. That same year, he entered the United States Army Dental Corps, serving as a Captain at Fort Knox, Kentucky from 1963-1965 - caring for soldiers' smiles with the same quiet competence that would define his life.

But long before dental school and the Army, something more important happened on a Lexington school bus. A shy young man finally gathered the courage to ask out a bright, shining classmate named Patty Ann. They discovered they shared the exact same birthday - month, day, and year. It seemed less coincidence than destiny. They began dating in high school and built a life together that endured for decades - steady, faithful, and full of laughter.

He practiced dentistry in South Deerfield, Massachusetts for over twenty years, serving his community with precision and kindness. In 1983, he and Patty Ann moved to coastal North Carolina - first Gloucester and then Otway - where the tide, the marsh, and the rhythm of Down East life suited him perfectly. In retirement, they opened many craft shops (The Craft Basket) in Harkers Island, Otway, and Gloucester. At one point - simply because he could - he even became a butcher after acquiring the Gloucester IGA. Reinvention never intimidated him.

From boyhood, he was compelled to make things with his hands. He built a bamboo fishing rod as a child. In middle school, he built a canoe. Over the years he became an accomplished woodworker and an avid duck decoy carver, one of the original members of the Core Sound Duck Decoy Carvers Guild. The annual duck show in December on Harkers Island was a highlight. Paint specks and wood shavings were as much a part of his wardrobe as buttons.

Last Christmas, a wood lathe found its way into his workshop, and soon the house filled with hand-turned bowls and goblets - tangible proof that at 90, he was still learning, still shaping, still refining.

He ran four marathons over his lifetime, logging more than 17,000 miles - with the Virginia Beach Marathon among his favorites. Eventually, even double-double hip replacements (both hips, twice) could slow him down, but they never changed his forward motion.

He was an organic gardener before it was fashionable. Raised beds overflowed with chard, tomatoes, and turnips of legendary size. He once won first place for eggplant and second for okra at the county fair - accomplishments he held with appropriate pride. If you saw him holding a turnip the size of farm equipment, you understood that patience and compost can accomplish miracles.

Fishing may have been his truest meditation - fresh water, salt water, didn't matter. Speckled trout under the Harkers Island bridge were a particular joy. One season he caught 714. Yes, he counted.

He loved dogs with unwavering devotion. After Patty Ann's passing, he faithfully cared for Santana - an ancient, blind, deaf, four-pound barking spitfire - rarely leaving his side. Santana followed him home just one day later.

He wrote limericks and rhymed poems, often irreverent, sometimes groan-worthy, always delivered with a twinkle. He believed life should include punchlines.

Those who knew him best experienced a man of deep steadiness, dry humor, and unwavering presence. He carved out a life both sturdy and sweet - measured not in noise, but in miles run, fish caught, wood turned, gardens grown, and quiet, faithful love. He was, quite simply, the kind of father whose daughters knew - without needing it spoken - that they were profoundly and securely loved. That certainty shaped generations.

There will be no formal service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Martha's Mission, P.O. Box 603, Morehead City, NC 28557.

The family extends heartfelt gratitude to Munden Funeral Home for their kindness and uncommon grace - including one final stop at Smithfield's Chicken on the journey home from WakeMed in Raleigh. After a lifetime of disciplined miles and careful sodium intake, it comforts us to imagine him now enjoying as much fried chicken and hushpuppies as eternity allows.

If you look for him, check the marsh at sunrise, a woodshop dusted in shavings, a marathon starting line, or a garden row just beginning to sprout.

Well done, Pop.

Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences at www.mundenfuneralhome.net.

Arrangements by Munden Funeral Home & Crematory in Morehead City, NC.