Born Liverpool, July 11, 1921. Died Liverpool, January 21, 2009, aged 87.
February 26, 2009 12:18President of the Liverpool Zionist Central Council in the 1960s and provincial vice-president of the Zionist Federation, Arnold Winik led the first trip to Israel from Liverpool after the 1967 Six-Day War, writes Lennie Isaacs.
He was also vice-president of the Merseyside Jewish Representative Council and chairman of Liverpool CBF and Ort. As treasurer and warden of Greenbank Drive Synagogue from 1971-77, he wore a top hat in shul, even after leaving office.
After attending Oulton School, Liverpool, and the Liverpool Yeshivah, he trained as a mechanical engineer and served as one in the Royal Navy in the Second World War.
With his father’s illness, he took over the family tailoring business. He later managed the Liverpool branch of menswear hire specialists, Moss Bros, where he was the acknowledged expert on military and ceremonial uniforms.
A member of the Magic Circle, he loved halachah, Yiddish and DIY. He rewired his house, dismantled the car and did DIY for others.
He enjoyed a 58-year marriage to Mina Firestone, who arrived from Vienna on a Kindertransport in 1939. A devoted couple, they hosted visitors including Israeli statesman Shimon Peres and London civic and communal figure Ruth Winston Fox.
Predeceased by his wife in 2008, he is survived by his daughter, son, two grandchildren and a great-grandson.