CONCORD – John J. Arena, Sr., 87, the second-generation owner and operator of Arena Farms and a lifelong Concord resident died peacefully Monday, September 22nd surrounded by his loving family. He was the beloved husband for 61 years of Josephine T. "Bobbie" (Amendolia) Arena. Born in Concord on July 26, 1927 he was the son of the late Natale Sr. and Josephine (Alessi) Arena, and the stepson of the late Santa (Alessi) Arena. Mr. Arena grew up on Bedford Street, attended Concord Public Schools, and graduated from Concord High School in 1946. An accomplished accordionist, he led his own ten-piece band while in high school. Later, he was a member of a twenty-two piece symphonic accordion orchestra, which played at many functions and events in the Northeast in the late 1940's. Mr. Arena was a lifelong farmer at his family's business, Arena Farms on Route Two and Fairhaven Road in Concord. There, he operated the farm stand and tended to hundreds of acres of crops in Concord, Sudbury, Lincoln, and Wayland. He was a member of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau and the New England Vegetable and Berry Growers Association. For twenty-six years, Mr. Arena was employed on a part-time basis for the Town of Concord's Transportation Department. He also owned and operated a successful snow plowing service for numerous Concord residents and businesses. He was a lifelong communicant of Holy Family Parish in Concord, and a longtime, proud member of the Concord Minutemen Association and the Concord Council #287 Knights of Columbus. In addition to his wife, Bobbie, he is survived by his children, Natale J. Arena and his wife Caroline of Concord, Mary Jean F. Laviolette and her husband Thomas Sr. of Sudbury, John J. Arena, Jr. and his wife Kathrin of Marlborough, and Theresa M. Kneeland and her husband Thomas, Sr. of Sudbury, his grandchildren, Jacqueline, Thomas Jr., Nicholas, and Christian Laviolette, John J. III and Emily Arena, Lauren and Thomas Kneeland Jr., and Gabrielle Pecher, his sisters, Mary Fasano of Concord and Josephine Puleio of Scituate, his sister in laws, Carmela Arena of Concord, and Claire France and her husband Robert of Westford, his brother in law, Pasquale Amendolia and his wife Kathleen of Bayside, NY, and several nieces and nephews. He was the father of the late Francis J. Arena and brother of the late Natale Jr., Pat, and Angelo Arena. Funeral will be held on Friday, September 26th at 9 am from the Dee Funeral Home, 27 Bedford Street, Concord Center, followed by a funeral Mass at 10 am in Holy Family Parish, Monument Square, Concord Center. Burial will follow in the family burial plot in St. Bernard's Cemetery, Concord. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, September 25th from 4 to 8 pm in the Dee Funeral Home. Contributions in his memory may be made to the charity of one's choice.