John M. Arms

John M. Arms of New York City and Bridgehampton, an architect who was an associate partner at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill for 37 years, died of heart failure on Friday at home in Bridgehampton. He was 86.

Mr. Arms was born in Evanston, Ill., the youngest of four, to Frances and Eugene Arms of Wilmette, Ill. He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Architecture and Design in 1955. In 1956, he married the former Anneli Muschenheim of Ann Arbor, Mich., an artist.

They moved to New York City to begin their 60-year marriage. The couple were early pioneers in the area now known as SoHo and, with many other artists and architects, were instrumental in petitioning the city to preserve and grant landmark status to buildings with cast-iron facades slated for demolition for urban renewal projects.

Mr. Arms was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1962 to study in Denmark, and it was there that his love of modern architecture further developed, his family wrote.

His designs for Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill could be seen in almost every major hospital in New York City, and in private residences on Long Island.

He served in the Army in Germany during the Korean War.

“A gifted storyteller, John enchanted family and friends with his many adventures, including hitchhiking and traveling by rail throughout the West and his travels through Europe,” his family wrote. “He had a passion for genealogy and traced descendants to Roger Williams, the Puritan leader considered the founder of the state of Rhode Island.”

He is survived by his wife, Anneli Arms, a son, Thomas Arms, a brother, Brock Arms, a granddaughter, and several nieces and nephews.

Burial will be private.

His family has suggested contributions in his memory to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978, or eeh.org.