Singer remembered as public servant, ‘champion’ for Hoover

Anyone who attended a Hoover City Council meeting or Hoover school board meeting in the past 10 years likely got a chance to see Arnold Singer.

The retired computer specialist from New Jersey who moved to Hoover in 2007 to be near his daughter and her family has been a regular at council and school board meetings over the past decade and frequently would speak during public comment time.

Singer, who died Aug. 10 at the age of 83, rarely hesitated to share his views on an issue facing the city.

“Arnold was just a servant in our city,” Mayor Frank Brocato said. “He loved the city of Hoover — quite a statesman, an individual that gave his heart and soul.”

Singer was very opinionated, but he always researched an issue before he got into a conversation about it, Brocato said.

And Singer didn’t just talk. He volunteered and served with civic and charitable groups.

He was president of The ARC of Shelby County, a group that serves people with developmental disabilities, from 2014 to 2017 and president of the Hoover Historical Society from 2017 to 2019.

He was an officer for the Friends of Hoover civic group and Hoover Metro Kiwanis Club and a member of Shelby County Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.

He volunteered to be the stage manager for Celebrate Hoover Day and volunteered to work at the SEC Baseball Tournament and Regions Tradition golf tournament, assisted the city of Hoover with the U.S. Census and was a board member for the Alabama Civil War Roundtable.

He also was active in discussions about Hoover school rezoning and helped in the successful effort to get Hoover school buses restored after they were eliminated in 2013.

“He adopted Hoover as his home, and he became a champion for it,” said Robin Schultz, another frequent meeting attender who became friends with Singer. “Everything he did, he did for the betterment of Hoover. ... He was just a guy that really cared a lot about the city of Hoover.”

Jim Langley, the current president of the Hoover Historical Society, described Singer as a “super activist” who was very energetic, especially for his age.

When the group found out it would lose its home at the old Bluff Park Elementary School, where it kept all its archives, Singer worked to arrange a temporary home at the Hoover Public Safety Center, Langley said. He also was the one who negotiated a new lease with the Hoover school system so the society could keep its historic log cabin on the Bluff Park campus, Langley said.

Lisa Singer, his daughter, said her father was involved in Edison, New Jersey, before he moved to Hoover, but he didn’t have near as much time when he was working. When he retired and came to Alabama, “he suddenly found himself with a lot of time on his hands,” and “he’s not a person that can just sit around. He had to find a way to be productive.”

Singer developed a particular love for the Hoover Public Library. “He was floored by the level of service and community the library provided,” his daughter said.

He frequently was the only member of the public at Hoover Library Board meetings.

“I just couldn’t hardly wrap my head around wanting to spend as much time at meetings as he did,” his daughter said. “He found them fascinating and wanted to understand what went into all the decisions being made. He was always learning something.”

Singer also dabbled in politics. In New Jersey, he ran unsuccessfully for the Edison Town Council and twice for an elected seat on the Edison Board of Education. He applied for an appointed spot on the Hoover Board of Education in 2010 and 2014 but was not selected. In 2016, he ran against John Lyda for Place 3 on the Hoover City Council.

He knew he wouldn’t win because Lyda was considered a popular councilman, but Lyda was unopposed, and Singer believed every candidate needed an opponent, his daughter said.

While Singer never won an election, he always maintained his love for local government.

“I think it’s a great way to be involved,” he said in 2016. “I’m willing to step up and try to be part of the solution.”

Singer was survived by his wife of 56 years, Francine, daughter Lisa, son David and four grandchildren.