Obituary of Arnold Mabery

Arnold Lavorn Mabery was born in Daytona Beach Florida on October 5,1947 to the late Thelma Graves and William Mabery. He was raised from infancy by his maternal aunt, the late Louise Bryant and the late Bishop Theodore Bryant, along with his sister, the late Renee Bryant. From an early age Arnold was given the nickname "Pop" and that name has stayed with him all his life. In fact, he preferred to be called Pop over Arnold. His father was a Bishop and the family attended the Holly Hill Church of God. He adored his parents and his younger sister and he often spoke of his mother, Mrs. Bryant, providing him with many opportunities to excel in music, sports, and education. He played various sports and took music lessons from an early age. His mother was a nurse and operated her own nursing home and both he and his sister were required to help out with some of the tasks at the nursing home. He jokingly stated that sometimes his sister would get annoyed with him because he was allowed to go play his sports and take his music lessons while she assisted their mother at the nursing home. Arnold graduated from Campbell Senior High School and briefly attended college in Florida on a music scholarship. He was a multi-talented musician and played the trumpet, saxophone, bass, keyboard, and also vocals. His first love was his music so when the opportunity came to join a music group he left college to follow his dream. Soon after, he married and traveled to New York City, with his wife Amy, to play in various clubs. His 1st born son Arnold, and his daughter, the late Shawna, were born of this marriage. Arnold eventually became a member of "The Untouchable Machine Shop" a multi-talented music group who stayed together from 1970-1985. They were very well known and popular in the states and in Canada. He was very proud of his first 2 solo recordings when he was 17 years old, on the Mercury Label under the name Arnold Bryant ("House In Order" and "Eighth Wonder"), which were released in 1968. He often lovingly spoke about his band members and considered them all his brothers. “They were my brothers, my family”. And he often talked about playing with or sharing the stage with the Legendary James Brown, Sam and Dave, Ohio Players, Kool and the Gang, Sly and the Family Stone, The Funkadelics, Martha and the Vandellas, Aretha Franklin, Millie Jackson, to name a few. He spoke about his experiences working with James Brown and said that James was such a perfectionist that he fined anyone who made a mistake, whether big or small, so Arnold did his best not to get fined. His music career spanned over a period of 25 years before he retired. During this period, his daughter Malynda (Mindy) was born. Once retired Arnold moved to Rhode Island where he worked in construction and became very skilled in the business. For recreation, he enjoyed sailing in Rhode Island, loved playing cards, cooking on the grill, fishing on the shores of Staten Island, fixing things around the house, and of course his music. He continued producing music and copyrighting his Master tapes. When he relocated to New York City, he married his wife Dr. Deborah Duff (Debbie) and moved to Staten Island where she lived. They were married for almost 28 years. He loved his Bronx family, which included his sisters, the late Cynthia Davis and Theresa McDaniels. Arnold continued producing music and copyrighting his Master tapes until he was no longer able to climb the stairs to his music room anymore. He struggled for many years with all his illnesses but he never gave up hope, not even towards the end. He always said “I gotta do what I gotta do”. Arnold leaves behind his wife Debbie, his son Arnold (Florence), daughter Malynda (Mindy) (Kevin), grandsons O'Shay, Arnold, granddaughters Shawna, Arabia, Chloe, great granddaughter Jada, stepsons John, Darnell (Angela), Cerone (Hitomi), sisters Diane, Evette, brother Robert, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.