Deborah Arvidson
Mystic — Deborah “Miki” Arvidson, beloved wife, mother and grandmother, died of a heart attack Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. Although sad to leave behind the people she loved, she will be glad to have escaped any more of the ravages of getting older, which she loathed.
Born Oct. 13, 1949, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Edward and Deborah (McKee) Ehlers, she grew up in Manchester, the youngest of four children. Always artistic, one of her proudest moments was winning a Gold Key in a Scholastic Art contest in high school. She married high school sweetheart William “Bill” Cox and had two children, Joshua William Cox in 1968, and Sarah Deborah Cox in 1972. The young family moved to the woods of Maine, where Miki tried raising two small children while Bill built a house around them, but she soon decided rural living wasn’t for her. They divorced and Miki, with Sarah in tow, traveled the country like the heroine of a Joni Mitchell song, “busy being free.” Charismatic, beautiful and free-spirited, she made every apartment a cozy home and every neighbor a good friend, although she could just as easily pack her bags and drive away without looking back.
Eventually, she found her way back to Connecticut, where she settled in Mystic and taught herself to make furniture slipcovers for a living. She married Peter Arvidson in 1992, and the two spent many happy years together, entertaining friends, sailing to Block Island, riding their Harley Davidson and sunbathing at Sandy Point whenever possible. She had a great laugh and a tendency to say whatever she was thinking at the moment, sometimes to her regret. She was a wonderful, adventurous cook, a talented painter and sculptor, and a voracious reader.
In addition to her husband, she leaves behind son Joshua (Michelle Blanton); daughter Sarah (Kevin Kroeger); and stepson Eric Arvidson (Patricia Ferryman); grandchildren, Isabel Kroeger, Emerson Cox, Campbell Cox, Ellen Arvidson, Martin Arvidson, and Adeline Arvidson; siblings, Michael Ehlers and Francis Driggs; numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews; and many friends. She was predeceased by her sister Christine Curran.
Miki’s life and spirit will be commemorated with a private ceremony for family and close friends when the time is right. Memorial donations in her honor may be made to the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center in Pawcatuck.
The Mystic Funeral Home is in care of the arrangements.