Arlene Paletz Horrow

Today, we celebrate the beautiful life of Arlene (Paletz) Horrow who passed away peacefully, with her three children by her side, on Mother’s Day, May 11, 2025, in Alexandria, VA.

Arlene was born in Philadelphia, PA in April of 1937, minutes ahead of her beloved twin brother Sam. Along with her older brother David, mother Claire and father Harry, Arlene lived most of her young life in West Philly, graduating Overbrook High School (where she always proudly talked about being a classmate of the great Wilt Chamberlain.)  In high school, Arlene met her life-long best friends Eleanor, Edie and Sandy, who she felt close to her whole life.

After high school, Arlene worked at Temple Dental School before meeting her husband David Horrow (at a bus stop crazy enough.) They married in January 1964 and had two sons (Mark & Andy) and a daughter (Ellen), living in Center City Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, NJ.  In the early years, the family spent a lot of time with Arlene’s brothers’ families – Sam & Sally (and their children Helene & Steven) and David and Brenda (and their children Mitchell, Danielle and Shira).

Arlene and her family moved to South Florida in 1976 and had a very close relationship with her husband David’s family, especially her mother-in-law Sara and Aunt Mary. Arlene was also very close with her mother — Bubby to her grandchildren — who spent every winter living with the family in Fort Lauderdale & Sunrise.  Arlene worked as a dental assistant for many years, primarily for her dear friends Dr. Steven Kusnick and his wife Debbie.

In addition to her dear high school friends, Arlene created an unbreakable sisterhood with the moms of 24^th Court — Sheila, Esther and Marlene – and strong affection for their husbands, Harvey, Kenny and Manny, respectively. The families shared a lot of Jewish holidays and other celebrations together and supported each other through great and hard times.

More than anything, Arlene was a proud mom of her three children and a surrogate mom to many others who needed her loving touch and shoulder to lean on. Arlene’s kids all went to great colleges and found lives away from South Florida, but she spoke with them almost every day and enjoyed frequent visits or traveling with them on vacation.

After her beloved husband David’s death in 1999, Arlene forged ahead with a new life — working in the home-health field, taking care of people suffering with dementia.  She was an active volunteer in causes important to her and enjoyed going to the theater and following her favorite sports teams – The Phillies, Eagles and Miami Heat (especially Dwyane Wade, her favorite.)  Arlene made many great friends living at Kings Point in Tamarac before she started having some health difficulties.  She was blessed to have the support of her “BFF” Noldy, who helped provide her daily assistance for a good life.

Arlene cherished her Chicago grandchildren, Devin and Seth, and her daughter-in-law Nancy and her family.  Arlene made frequent trips to Chicago to watch Devin and Seth’s various sports teams and to share holidays and milestones.  Arlene always shared stories and music with them and developed a wonderful bond with each of them.

As Arlene started developing dementia, the family decided to move her to Northern Virginia to be close to Mark and Ellen. Her care team at Sunrise of Alexandria was incredibly warm and generous, and she loved each of them, always telling a story or offering them food. She looked forward to her semi-weekly visits with Mark and Ellen and her bi-monthly visits with Andy, where they would go on walks, go out for a meal or just sit around and share memories, ice cream, TV or music.

Arlene lived a most beautiful life. Even with dementia, she never forgot all the important people and milestones in her life. Family and friends were everything to her, and no one was richer in that love than Arlene.  As we mourn Arlene’s loss of life, she would want us to remember all the good in the world and all the love that exists.

Arlene is survived by her three children, Mark, Andy and Ellen; her daughter-in-law Nancy; and her grandchildren Devin and Seth; along with brothers David and Sam (and sister-in-law Sally) and her nephews and nieces.

A Celebration of Life will be scheduled for this summer.  Details forthcoming.  If you feel inclined, donations made to The Dementia Society of America, in Arlene Horrow’s memory are welcomed.  https://www.dementiasociety.org/donate