BR figure Paul Arst dies at 91
Paul Arst, a Baton Rouge philanthropist who won the Brotherhood Sisterhood Award in 1989, died Saturday.
He was 91.
Arst, who worked as an insurance agent for Prudential Financial Inc., was honored with the Brotherhood and Sisterhood Award by the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
He was a member of the LSU Hall of Distinction and served as president of the LSU National Alumni Association and the College of Business Administration Alumni.
He also served as president of the Baton Rouge Rotary Club, Capital Area United Way and Congregation B’nai Israel.
Arst was born in Drew, Miss., moved to Baton Rouge in 1938 and graduated from LSU in 1942.
He served in the military during World War II and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, his obituary said. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
“He always used to say that if a person is successful in their career because of the communities that they live in, they should be obligated to pay their ‘civic rent,’ ” Arst’s son, Sanford “Sandy” Arst, said.
Sandy Arst said his father was a loving family man who “was very devoted to my kids, his grandkids.”
Frank McArthur, 69, a business partner with Paul Arst for 25 years through Arst-McArthur Associates, said Arst had a wonderful sense of humor and had a great presence about him whenever he walked into a room.
“He’s part of a generation that is really gone now,” McArthur said. “There are only two or three others that I can name in this Baton Rouge community that are the ones responsible for much of what Baton Rouge is today.”
Services were held Wednesday at B’nai Israel Temple. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to charity in Arst’s honor.