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entered the Army toward the end of World War II, serv-
ing as an investigator for its weather department. Florence
was mainly a homemaker, but she also sold handbags in a
shoe store before she began raising the couple's four chil-
dren.
Arnold got his first taste of volunteerism and communi-
ty service by joining Materials for People in Palestine. The
organization, subsisting on donations, disassembled air-
planes at an Ohio junkyard and shipped them — com-
plete with guns — to the then-new Israel to be reassem-
bled for combat use. Detroit-area scrap dealers, Jews and
non-Jews, contributed miscellaneous parts to the cause.
BILL CARROLL
"We accomplished this because we had a favorable rela-
Special to the Jewish News
tionship with the U.S. Customs authorities," Arnold
recalled.
n 1941, Arnold and Florence Michlin did not have
The Michlins' fortunes improved after the war as
enough money for an elaborate wedding. So they
Arnold and his brother, Norman, now of Bloomfield
got married in a Spartan ceremony at a rabbi's
Township, opened a war surplus business. The business
house. Now, as they celebrate their 60th wedding
continued in one form or another for 40 years. In the
anniversary, they live in a beautiful retirement apartment
meantime, their father, John Mendel Michlin, founded
complex in Waterford.
the Michlin Chemical Corp. in Detroit. When he died in
Family members and friends say the Michlins have led
1954, the brothers took over and operated the business
exemplary lives, devoted to their family and community
until
1981.
service for six decades. The Michlins celebrated their
It was Arnold's grandfather, Chaim Michlin, who
anniversary Aug. 16, after a parry earlier in the week
helped mold Arnold's belief that discrimination, in any
attended by their four children, five grandchildren and
form, is wrong. Chaim used to sell scrap to a non-Jewish
two great-grandchildren.
farmer in Indiana and they became good friends. The
The pair met as teenagers, when Arnold took Florence
farmer, John Smathers, even gave the elder Michlin
to the Northern High School senior prom in Detroit.
money to bring Arnold's father to the United States from
Eventually, they "eloped" — to a rabbi's house in the
Europe.
neighborhood for a quiet ceremony with their immediate
In honor of Smathers, Mendel Michlin added "John" to
families. Florence's father, Sam Karbal, gave them $20 to
his name. Arnold's sister, Martha Paul of West
take the wedding attendants to dinner.
Bloomfield, was named after Smathers' wife. The Michlin
"We went to Liberman's Restaurant on Linwood —
and Smathers families have been fast friends for years.
and I even brought back some change," Arnold recalled.
"Arnold and Florence are always there for me and
"Our 'honeymoon' was one night at the Stotler Hotel
everyone
else in the family," said Martha Paul. "You
downtown, then it was back to
couldn't ask for a better couple. And Arnold has been like
work."
a father to me."
The early years of their
In the 1980s, Arnold was president of the Greater
marriage were hectic as
Detroit
B'nai B'rith Council and served for many years on
Arnold attended
the
Anti-Defamation
League's Michigan Region Advisory
night school to
Board.
In
recent
years,
he helped found the American
become a chemist,
Arab
and
Jewish
Friends
organization and still is active in
eventually getting a
the
Ecumenical
Institute
for
Jewish-Christian Studies in
chemistry degree
Southfield.
at the old Detroit
Florence, who also worked at Michlin Chemical at one
Institute of
time,
headed the Suburban Women of B'nai B'rith. She
Technology.
was
also
an ardent advocate for Recovery Inc., a self-help
He
organization, where she was a leader and adviser for many
people in the Jewish community for 35 years.
The Michlins moved from Farmington Hills to the
Waterford residence after Arnold, 80, suffered a stroke in
1999. He gets around in a wheelchair and he and
Florence, 78, still attend functions connected with their
interests.
"The stroke forced me to retire from helping my son,
Shalom, in his business, but Florence and I are still very
active in various organizations," he said.
The Michlins' children are Leslye Borden of California,
Kenneth and Shalom of West Bloomfield and Joan Ennis
of New York.
"The 60th wedding anniversary is a milestone few cou-
ples achieve today," said Borden. "My parents accepted
each other for better and for worse, for richer and poorer,
in sickness and in health, and, as such, they are wonderful
examples
for us all."
mold Michlin

Andir 001.er

-

Michlins celebrate
60 years of loving
and giving together.

I

❑

Trqt

9/7
2001

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