November 21, 1958 — October 17, 2019
Timothy Ian McElroy, born Timothy Wayne Seale November 21, 1958, passed away from acute sepsis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and complications from AIDS October 17, 2019. He attended Cal Baptist College and CSU Northridge, earning ministerial credentials and a business degree. He married Los Angeles attorney and Vietnam vet Curtis Arndt in the Metropolitan Community Church of Santa Barbara in 1980.
Tim owned California Tan in Los Angeles where he donated free tanning to early AIDS patients. His first marriage ended with Arndt's passing on September 5, 1992. Tim again married, this time to returned Peace Corps volunteer Tom Owen McElroy April 6, 1997. In 2001, Timothy changed his last name from Seale to McElroy when Tom was hospitalized and Tim was denied visitation rights as "non-family."
Tim worked as office manager at General Magnaplate in Ventura, California. He later worked as CFO at Vivitar, and then Aspen Helicopter, until developing AIDS dementia to the point of disability, when he relocated to San Francisco.
He legally married Tom at City Hall in San Francisco October 6, 2008. Tim was a longtime volunteer with San Francisco's AIDS Emergency Fund until 2015. A participant in a long-term clinical trial for AIDS dementia since 1998, Tim donated his brain and nerve tissue to the National Neurological AIDS Bank at Reed Neurological Research Center.
In addition to Tom McElroy, Tim is survived by cousin Brenda Pennington of Costa Mesa; Cynthia Brandt of Port Hueneme; and Marie Ernst of Santa Barbara. A memorial is to be announced, but donations to Maitri Compassionate Care, 401 Duboce Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94117 would be appreciated.