Arnold M. Friedman

Arnold Mor Friedman, of Providence, Rhode Island, passed away on July 29, 2025, at Rhode Island Hospital due to pneumonia. Born on November 20, 1942, in Norwich, Connecticut, Arnold was the son of Dr. Emerick Friedman, a psychiatrist, and Dorothy (Fagelman) Friedman, a homemaker. The family relocated to Albany, New York, where Arnold graduated from the Albany Academy. He then went to Cornell University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship in Philosophy at Harvard University. After leaving graduate school, Arnold decided to pursue a career in law and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1968 with a Juris Doctor.

Arnold’s legal career began at the Boston law firm of Widett and Kruger (later Widett and Widett), where he eventually became a partner. In 1975, he joined Textron Inc. in Providence, Rhode Island, as a staff attorney, becoming Assistant General Counsel in 1977 and Vice President and Deputy General Counsel in 1984.

During his tenure at Textron, Arnold was responsible for managing the Corporate staff and overseeing all legal matters except for litigation. His primary areas of focus included mergers and acquisitions, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) compliance, corporate finance, antitrust, compliance, international, intellectual property, government contracts, and real estate. Arnold was also a member of the enterprise-wide Legal and Engineering and Technology Councils and led the enterprise-wide e-Business Legal Team.

Arnold was a strong advocate for the value of Textron’s intellectual property. When the company expanded globally, he played a key role in implementing the company’s global anti-corruption initiative. After retiring from Textron in 2011, Arnold spent two years at Edwards Wildman.

Arnold married his beloved wife, Florence Dunn Friedman, also of Albany, NY, in 1967. They have one daughter, Rebecca Friedman of Boulder, Colorado, and two granddaughters: Maggie Friedman Laurence (husband Luke Laurence) of Shokan, New York, and Katya Friedman-Bush, also of Boulder, Colorado, and one great-granddaughter, Lucy, all of whom survive him. Arnold was predeceased by his older sister, Harriet Arline (Friedman) Eisenberg.

According to Arnold’s wishes, funeral and burial will be private. Arrangements are in the care of Sugarman-Sinai Memorial Chapel, Providence.