Mazel Toy!
a erioned
BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish. News
hen Emily Kitmer
agreed to a blind date
with Dan Arnold 50
years ago, little did she
know that she would be doubling with
his mother.
H
And when she married him six
months later, little did she know that
his uncle would live with them for 20
years.
So, even though Dan had been a
big sports star, Emily really turned out
to be the good sport. That first date
became a love story, and they married
on Jan. 16, 1949.
The Arnolds, who live in West
Bloomfield, will officially celebrate
their golden wedding anniversary on
July 4 with their four children and
their spouses, 13 grandchildren, two
great-grandchildren, plus other rela-
tives and friends.
They were fixed up by a mutual
friend. When Dan came to the door,
he said he hoped she wouldn't mind,
but mother was waiting in the car.
"At first, I was taken aback and
thought, `Uh oh, what do I have
here?"' she recalled. Dan explained
that he was taking Emily to a Wayne
University Orchestra concert at the
Detroit Institute of Arts. Dan's mother
was going to the same concert (featur-
ing a family friend) with Dan's broth-
er, who ended up having to work late.
Dan decided to drop off his mother
at the DIA on his way to Emily's
house, but it was too early and the
doors were locked. Instead of leaving
his mother on the steps, he brought
her along.
"I thought, 'She had,better not be
sitting in the front seat' (she wasn't),"
_,quipped Emily. "My next thought
was, 'What a nice young man to be so
considerate of his mother.' It was then
I knew he was special, and we became
engaged three months later."
Emily, 72, grew up in the
Forest/Mt. Elliott area of Detroit's
East Side, one of two Jewish girls in
her graduation class at old Eastern
:Dan and
Emily Arnold
leave the Ft.
Wayne Hotel
in Detroit 50
years ago on
the way to a
New York
honeymoon.
Air Force, seeing action in France
toward the end of World War II.
He participated in all major sports
at the schools, earning All-City and
All-State honors at Central and play-
ing on the Wayne varsity team. He
was president of the first Hebrew
graduation class at Temple Israel.
After stints in the luggage and
insurance businesses, 35 years ago
Dan founded Arnold & AssoCiates, a
commercial real estate firm.
After 11 years of marriage, Dan
made another unusual request of
Emily: Could his retired bachelor
uncle, Harry
Arnowitz, move in
with them for
about a month
until he got settled
somewhere else.
"Well, the month
lasted 20 years,
until Uncle
Harry passed
away," said
Dan. "But
Emily was
really great
with him,
giving him
his diabetes
shots and
nursing
him back to
health after
Dan and Emil)/ A he was hit by a car. She
was an excellent caregiver. She always
has been the glue that holds our fami-
ly together.
Emily has been a Hebrew teacher at
Temple Israel for 34 years, does volun-
teer reading to the residents at the
Fleischman Home for the Aged, and
now runs four Yiddish-speaking
groups at the Jewish Community
Center.
office and attended Wayne at night.
The Arnolds' 50th anniversary cele-
"Then I met Dan and he 'rescued' me
bration was postponed to July 4
from the East Side," she said.
because most of their family lives in
Dan, 75, grew up on the West Side,
Dallas. Their children are Susan and
attending Durfee Intermediate,
Bob Sunquest, Phyllis and Dennis
Central High School, the Detroit
Arnold, and Reena and Stuart Arnold,
Institute of Technology and Wayne.
all of Dallas, and Beth and Dr. David
He also spent three years in the U.S.
Kirschner of West Bloomfield. Fl
33
East met West, with mom in tow,
and it worked/
High School. Her parents were
Orthodox in a mixed ethnic neighbor-
hood. With no air conditioning, they
slept on Belle Isle during hot nights.
Emily had the lead in the senior
play, sang in the choir, and volun-
teered for the Red Cross. After gradu-
ation, she worked in an insurance
6/25
1999
Detroit Jewish News
49