ARTHUR – The man who worked tirelessly to put Arthur on the map and build a successful clothing store in the middle of the quiet farming community has died.
David Kozinets, a former councillor and reeve who first moved to Arthur 75 years ago to work in the clothing store of his father-in-law Joseph Sussman, died on April 17 at Guelph General Hospital. He was 95.
“He loved Arthur and we worked so hard,” said son Steven.
Whether it was the growth and expansion of Sussman’s of Arthur into a clothing store that would attract thousands of customers from outside the community, or his decades of service as a member of the local Lions Club and a politician, David was a tireless advocate for his adoptive community.
“He did almost everything,” Steven said with a laugh.
David’s list of accomplishments over nine decades could easily fill two or three lifetimes.
Born on May 1, 1929 in Toronto and the second of five children, David and his brothers became known as the local newspaper boys by delivering upwards of 1,000 newspapers a day when he was just 13 years old.
The papers sold for three cents apiece back then, and the boys were paid almost a penny per paper.
Steven said his father wanted to become a mechanic, but that changed when he met his future wife, Shirley Sussman, after high school.
The two were soon engaged and remained married until Shirley’s death in 2011.
Together they had two sons, Steven and Harvey, and a granddaughter named Stacey.
Just four years after moving to Arthur to work in the store, David got to work putting his mark on the community by joining the Arthur and District Lions Club in 1954.
He became president in 1964, and plans for a new community pool and artificial ice rink surface were soon proposed.
The Lions Club successfully secured centennial grants for the projects as part of Canada’s 100th birthday in 1967.
That same year David was elected to village council and became reeve in 1970 – a role he would serve in until 1985.
In 1969 he helped negotiate a package for a new municipal well, which helped convince the Bell Thread Company to build a new manufacturing plant in Arthur, leading to 250 new jobs.
“It took six months of my life to bring Bell Thread here”, he said in 2023 after receiving the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee pin in recognition of his service to the community.
“But it was worth it for all the jobs. I remember walking up the street with the president of the company, and he said ‘I like the looks of the people of Arthur.’
“I felt the same way when I came here some 70 years ago.”
David Kozinets and his longtime wife, Shirley. Submitted photo
Numerous other projects were completed during his time on council, including a municipal parking lot, new library, medical centre, nursing home and fire hall.
All this while also building a thriving clothing store and working alongside his two sons.
Shirley’s father originally arrived in Canada in 1907 as a 21-year-old refugee from Poland and sold clothing from a horse-drawn wagon before opening his store in 1914.
David had no formal training in the clothing industry when he started and would travel to meetings in cities like Philadelphia and Los Angeles to learn the business. “He learned quickly,” Steven said.
The company continued to grow and expand, eventually employing as many as 70 people and occupying much of the town’s main street.
Customers were so loyal they’d travel for hours to shop at Sussman’s, Steven said. One recently made the trek all the way from Kingston.
In 2015, David’s contributions were permanently etched into the community when the former municipal building was renamed the David M. Kozinets Centre.
At the time, David called it a “very emotional day for me, something I will never forget.”
Aside from grand stories of community building, Steven also cherishes the tales of smaller gestures his father made for people in the community.
“I’ve been hearing a lot of stories, like when a poor family came into the store and they’d need some clothes and dad would just say, ‘pay me when you can’ or ‘don’t worry about it,’” he said.
A graveside service was held April 22, and the family has asked that anyone wishing to honour his memory to make donations to Hospice Wellington and the Arthur Lions Club.
