Manny Nussbaum

At 86 years young, Manny passed peacefully on November 18. Manny endured his last 39 days in the ICU at Woodmont Hospital, Manny’s first hospitalization of his life. At Woodmont, like in the rest of his life, Mr. Manny as they like to call him, made many friends and the nurses treated him like their own parent. Thankfully that time was spent extremely lucid allowing his wife and children to enjoy some great memories.

Manny was born September 21, 1939 in Bogota, Columbia to Paula and Martin Nussbaum and later joined by younger sister Sonny. The Nussbaum's had fled Germany to anywhere they could get after Paula miraculously helped Martin escape Buchenwald. Growing up in Bogota, Manny learned the first of his 5 languages. He spoke Spanish with his friends, French in the French school he attended and German in the home. At age 9, Manny went to work for his parents ladies blouse company, where he learned to sew and spent hours a day making shirts.

At age 12, Manny and the Nussbaum's came to America and made their home in Washington Heights, New York. It was there he met his brother from another mother, the late Jerry Bauman. Manny and Uncle Jerry as the kids call him, had a friendship like no other until the day Jerry left us. We know they are now smiling over many games of pinochle.

Once in the US Manny learned his next two languages - English and Hebrew, Manny was a quick study with a gift for language thankfully, as he only had 1 year to be prepare for his bar mitzvah. As a teen, he loved playing stickball, soccer for the Maccabees and had a part time job delivering dry cleaning for nominal income. He had an entrepreneurial spirit, selling outdated newspapers to whoever would buy them, to earn extra money. At age 22, Manny was drafted in the Army and sent to Fort Dix. On arrival at Fort Dix, Manny received the shocking news, his Dad Martin had just been sent to the hospital. The Army, allowed him a weekend pass and he was able to make it home to see him before he passed at the age of 52.

After honorable discharge from the Army, Manny want to CCNY where he studied accounting. This paid off as Manny joined Kingley shirt company and later Capital Mercury, where he rose to VP of Merchandising. Manny was well liked and respected by his peers. Recently a coworker said “Manny was always easy going and caring….and damn good at his job”

In 1963, somehow a man of Bogota and a woman born in Honolulu, met in West Orange, NJ thanks to an introduction by Manny’s brother in law, Rudy.

Manny moved to Bloomfield, NJ in 1965, when he married Arleen and just a few years later, they bought their first home in Little Falls, NJ. Not far from Arleen’s parents, the late Marion and Shep Stemmer. It’s there they welcomed Mindy. From Little Falls, Manny took the train to NYC. Some days, Mindy would love to walk with Arleen to train the station to meet him after work. Years later, they welcomed Sandy. They knew their family was not complete, so they made the choice in 1973 to move to Parsippany, in Morris County, NJ to have a larger house and a great yard. This allowed them to be minutes from Manny’s sister Sonny and her family. It was in this house they welcomed Barry. For over 30 years Manny and Arleen created a warm loving home. Somehow even though Manny left for NYC, parking at Cobbs Corner for years at 5am and with the toll of community not making it home until almost 7pm nightly, Manny was a family man. He always made time and was involved with his children and spoke with his mother nightly, in German of course. While his children had asked many times for a pool in the backyard like some of their friends had, the answer was always a resound no until 1996. In 1995, Manny earned his favorite nickname PopPop and for Annie and Adam and the 5 grandchildren to follow, of course he added a pool for extra fun.

While Manny didn’t have many hobbies outside of his family, he loved a good card game with friends. He and Arleen spent countless weekends at Sonny and Rudy’s Pocono home “with the card group” which was one of Manny’s favorite vacation spots.

Following his retirement from Capital Mercury, (and while still working), Manny was the bookkeeper and head fix it man on the weekends at Arleen’s School - My Special Spot, always there supporting Arleen in her dreams.

It was at the point in life, the man that didn’t fly began to be a snowbird, driving without hesitation from NJ and to FL. They always stayed near Tamarac, being close to family, including Manny’s second brother from another Mother, Cousin, Eddie Shankman. In 2015, Arleen and Manny made the choice to sell their Parsippany home, buy a condo in Tamarac and move their NJ residence to Wharton. It was in 2020 when Covid hit, they made the choice to be full time Floridians loving time with their Kings Point family. Manny could be found almost every Saturday night at the Clubhouse humming to the music and on Sundays and Wednesdays enjoying casino life. Tamarac also had them near Port Everglades and Manny started enjoying many cruises with Arleen.

Manny is survived by his wife of almost 60 years, Arleen, Children – Mindy, Sandy & Barry. Grandchildren – Adam, Annie/Maggie, Jake, Karissa, Molly & Trevor. Great granddaughters Jade & Amari.

Manny’s true greatest joy was his wife Arleen and his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He would do anything for them or anyone else is his family or community. Manny loved playing cards, going to the casino or the pool and of course hours with his beloved CNN. One thing about Manny, he could be content just sitting on a bench for hours looking at the wildlife, water and the sky. Manny leaves not only a hole in the hearts of those who loved him but a hole for the world of a loving, good, kind person. The World needs more Manny's.