Rochester, NH Native Dies in Florida Condo Collapse

A Rochester native who stayed in Florida after attending college and serving in the U.S. Army and his wife are among the dead and missing in the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building near Miami on June 24.

Arnold “Arnie” Notkin, 87, and his wife Myriam lived on the third floor of the 12-story building.

Surfside police identified Arnie Notkin's body on July 12 but Myriam is still among those unaccounted for, according to Surfside police.

While their families awaited word of their fate their grandson, Jake Samuelson, told WPLG TV that his family received 16 phone calls from their landline phone which was next to their bed. There was only static at the other end, Samuelson told the outlet.

Arnie Notkin was born in Rochester in 1934 and he attended the University of Miami in the 1950s, his family told the Miami Herald. He stayed in Florida and was a much beloved physical education teacher in Miami Beach for over 40 years, his family said.

Arnie Notkin's family said he was a pee wee football coach and president of the Police Athletic League.

He married his second wife, Myriam, in 1993 and a year later bought their unit at the Surfside.

Myriam Notkin was a Cuban and was the only employee at a Miami beach who spoke Spanish, Yiddish and English, her family told the Herald. Her family said she was proud to have outlived Cuban president Fidel Castro who died in 2016.

She posted a message on her Facebook page on June 3 showing an older couple snuggling in bed.

"One day you are going to hug your last hug, kiss your last kiss and head someone's voice for the last time, but you never know when the last time will be, so live every day as if it were the last time you will be with the person you love."

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH