Arthur Charles Standing was the oldest son of Charles and Mary Alice Nicholson Standing. He married Lydia Henderson on March 28, 1925. He was a conscientious objector during World War 1 and volunteered to work with the Society of Friends organization, which became the American Friends Service Committee. His group built new houses for French citizens whose homes had been destroyed in the war.

He farmed on the George and Deborah Standing homestead near Earlham, Iowa. He was the great-grandson of David Nicholson.