Henry Joseph "Hank" Arizmendi

If you never heard Hank Arizmendi of Pompano Beach, Florida, tell you about the time the pilot locked himself out of the cabin mid-air, you’re too late: he was taken from us on September 24, 2014 at the age of 74.

Hank was a man of many passions. He hated home repair, the Tea Party, being interrupted in the bathroom, and injustice in any form. He loved doo-wop music, his mother's rice pudding, the New York Mets, cop shows, the Lemon Ice King of Corona, expensive ties, conversation with any and every one, and Don Quixote. But above all, he loved saying yes to his two boys, particularly when they asked him for a ride or for a book or for a hug.

Not until he was felled by ALS at the end of his colorful and successful life did he ever pass up an opportunity, no matter how trivial or unpleasant, to spend time with his sons. Lives like that don't typically get you fame and fortune, but he had plenty of brushes with greatness- delivering flowers to General MacArthur, getting pushed by Jackie Robinson, and disco dancing with the Fifth Dimension- not to mention the time he told Bryan Gumbel, "You're damn right I'm angry, Bryan!"

He leaves behind his wife of 46 years (about whom he said "I wouldn't trade a single complaint"), his two sons (who were also his two best friends), the cast iron pan in which he made his famous tortillas, his perennially half-full bottle of Cuarenta Y Tres, and the little TV room, which will be a worse and sadder place without him. But, then again, so will the world. Not a man to dwell on sadness, there will be no memorial service – just a lot of great memories and gratitude for the fact that, of all the families in the world that could have gotten him, we were the lucky ones.

If you want to make a donation in Hank’s memory, go buy a present for someone you really love. He’d like that.
 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Henry Joseph "Hank" Arizmendi, please visit our floral store.