Lifetime bachelor settling down at 76

Joyce Rudolph

At 76, Arne K. Wickstrom will be changing a few lifestyle habits, now

that he’s engaged to Doris J. Frost, 71.

The lifetime bachelor said he has to stop looking at other women

and learn to pick up his clothes.

“Doris said, ‘You can look, but don’t touch other girls, or you’re

out,’ ” said the retired Volvo mechanic, who lives in La Crescenta.

His fiancee also keeps an immaculate house.

“So I’ll have to pick up my clothes and fold them. I did that when

I was a kid, but forgot when I was a bachelor,” he said.

The changes he makes happily, he said, because he is looking

forward to getting married.

Born in Sweden, he came to the United States in 1969. He worked as

a Volvo mechanic in Santa Monica from 1970 to 1985.

Frost is retired after 25 years in the accounting office at

Glendale Community College. She graduated from Glendale High School

in 1949 and has lived in La Crescenta for more than 30 years. Her

first husband, Donald Frost, died in January 1999.

“I was a lonely widow for four years,” she said. “Arne has given

me a new life. I got lucky and got a good man. He makes me laugh all

the time.”

The couple met at Sparr Heights senior center in Glendale. He is

the custodian and she volunteers as a receptionist.

“I looked and looked. Checked her out,” Wickstrom said. “I thought

maybe I would ask her to go out and dance with me. She said ‘Oooh, I

would love to go out to dance. I haven’t danced for 50 years. My

first husband didn’t dance.’ ”

Now the couple goes ballroom dancing once a week at the Joslyn

Adult Center in Burbank, and dance every Wednesday at the Rusty

Pelican in Glendale. They also attended the recent senior prom in

Montrose. Their favorite song is “Moonlight Serenade” by Glenn Miller

and their favorite dance is the fox trot.

They go twice a week to the Foothill Athletic Club, where they

lift weights and swim. Wickstrom also rides his bicycle every day.

Wickstrom popped the question on top of Mount Wilson, giving her a

bouquet of flowers and a diamond ring. They drove back to Rusty

Pelican for a celebration dinner. The summer wedding will be in

Sweden, where Wickstrom’s brother, Moje Wickstrom, still lives and

they will honeymoon throughout Europe. His sister, Dajmar Wickstrom,

lives in Montrose.

Frost’s family members are daughter, Doreen Johnson; sister,

Kathleen Daniels; and two grandsons, Sean Johnson and Eric Johnson.

Eric and his wife, Jenny, gave Frost her first great-grandson,

Timothy Gabriel, on Jan. 20.