Joel Aranson
ARANSON: Joel Aranson, age 86, of Boca Raton, Florida. On Nov. 9, 2023, we lost our beloved Gramps. He was the rock of our family and taught us that the most important values in life are love, laughter and family. He will be missed most by his wife, Diane Aranson; daughters Lynn Shapiro (Eric), Pamela Adelsheimer (Gregg); his son, David Aranson, along with his grandchildren Adam Shapiro, Lauren Shapiro, Allison Shapiro, Andrew Adelsheimer (Amanda), Jeremy Adelsheimer and Eric Adelsheimer, and his great-grandson, Benjamin. He was born in New York to Milton and Pearl Aranson. He moved to Pittsburgh at a young age where, along with his late younger brother Michael Aranson, his family thrived and became stalwarts in the tight-knit Jewish community. Graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in business, he joined his father in building Johnny Jones Jr into one of the leading distributors of roller skates in the country. In the 1990s he merged Johnny Jones with his sister company National Sporting Goods (“NSG”) and Joel relocated to New Jersey as well as Boca Raton, Florida. Along with his son-in-law Gregg, they built NSG into a thriving business focusing on creating and distributing sporting goods and toy products. He remained active and chairman of NSG right up until the end. He lost his first wife, Annette, to a long battle with cancer in 1985 at the young age of only 48. He was very fortunate to find love again and married Diane. For the past 30 years they built a beautiful life together surrounded by countless friends and family. After the tragic loss of his stepson Jeffrey Grossman to myocarditis, Joel became very involved in the Myocarditis Foundation fighting to bring awareness and research dollars to this often misunderstood and misdiagnosed virus. He joined the Myocarditis Foundation Board of Directors where he remained active until this day. He was an active member of the Polo Club in Boca Raton, Florida. His passion for golf was not only based on the sport but the quality of time he got to spend with his friends. He was never short of telling one of his infamous jokes or one of his numerous stories. His family is defined by his legacy, and he will truly be missed by everyone who knew and loved him. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Myocarditis Foundation — myocarditisfoundation.org. PJC
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