Wishnick Makes it to Washington, D.C.

By CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA | Reporter

Congressman Ted Lieu, who represents California’s 33rd Congressional District, remembered Palisadian Arnie Wishnick in a speech to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 21, cementing Wishnick’s name forever to the Congressional Record.

“Madam Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life of Mr. Arnie Wishnick—a beloved husband and Los Angeles community leader,” Lieu’s speech said.

The speech gave an in-depth description on Wishnick’s background and journey to the Palisades, from his birth in 1942 Chicago.

“His career began in high school as a repairman for the Schick Razor Company,” the speech said. “After college, he moved out west to join the emerging banking industry in Beverly Hills, eventually settling in Pacific Palisades.”

Little was left out, including everything from his career with the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce to his many years coordinating the Fourth of July Palisades Americanism Parade.

“Arnie was always smiling, eager to chat and willing to help in any way he could. May Arnie’s memory be a blessing to us all,” the speech concluded.

“My immediate reaction was how very proud I am at the fact that Congressman Ted Lieu went to Washington, D.C., and spoke about Arnie,” Arnie’s sister, Audrey Greenberg, said in an interview with the Palisadian-Post. “It will always be in the record!”

Greenberg felt their parents, who fled Poland right before the Holocaust, would be ecstatic at the idea that their son became a well-revered member of the community and remains a prominent figure well after his death on April 27.

“They came with very little and didn’t even speak English,” she said. “I’m sure they wondered what would happen to their children … or if they would die at the hands of soldiers, because that’s all they knew.”

Greenberg told the Post that she thinks Arnie would respond to this news with a humble response and say something along the lines of, “If only Mom and Dad could see this.”

Arnie wasn’t big on travel, according to Greenberg, but always regretted never visiting Washington, D.C.

“He finally made it to Washington, D.C.,” Greenberg said. “Now he is part of history.”