Arnold W. Hirsch

my prayers are with you.for the short time i got to know arnold i loved his sense of humor.he always put a smile on my face.i used to be his caregiver at arden courts of jefferson hills.arnold you will be surely missed my prayers go out to all of your family.

My memories of my Uncle Arnold are relatively indirect, being the youngest of Wally's kids and having moved out West when I was 8. My memories consist more of the people around him; my Aunt Rena's incredible smile, playing with Rubin at his house in Donora and on hilly streets, Mary's cooking. I do have this image of Arnold seated in his living room and of a comforting smell that I always associated with him. Maybe it was Mary's cooking. I was a but intimidated by him but had a distinct feeling of being safe and loved. A little girl's memory I suppose.



I have felt very sad at his passing and shared this with my own children. Interestingly, my son Elijah (age 10), was crying the day I told him Arnold had died. Elijah was a baby the only time he met Arnold, but this boy has a soft heart, to complement his love of books and sports, and if I had to guess, will probably grow up to be a lawyer. All my love to Rena, Kevan, Rubin and Susan.

Janet

I have just realized that my uncle, Arnold Hirsch, is the person I have known longest in my life after my own mother. As far back as I have memories, I have memories of Arnold. That is a lot of history, and no one appreciated history more than he did. Whether it was as a child going to Donora, to the grand old house he and my father Wallace grew up in, to celebrate holidays, play with our cousins, and enjoy Mary’s wonderful cooking; joining him for a day in San Francisco while he was on school committee business and I was in college nearby, watching the incredible volume of smoke pouring out of a burning house we chanced upon, and getting to know him for the first time with an adult consciousness; visiting the Tomb of the Patriarchs when he came to Jerusalem to help during my father’s final illness, marveling at his astonishing knowledge of Jewish history and culture, and feeling privileged to listen in as he and my father reminisced about the long-ago war they fought in; gathering at Rubin’s house for the family warmth and comfort of Thanksgiving, with the chance to catch up on a year’s worth of news, and to watch my own children connecting to “Uncle Arnold” and, thus, to the long chain of family history; and, finally, visiting him in the nursing home last summer, knowing that we were saying goodbye. Arnold, on behalf of my siblings, my children, and myself, we miss you and love you, and feel blessed to have known a person of such courage,compassion, goodness, and wisdom! All our love to Rena, Kevan, Rubin, and Susan.

A wonderful brother-in-law, Arnold was always there for us, even travelling to Jerusalem to share sad times as well as happy events. We were enriched by his unique sense of humor, his passion for history, and his love of family, learning and life. May his memory be ever a blessing to us all. Much love to Rena, Kevan, Rubin and Sue.