Love Story: He came to her rescue at a Manhattan singles bar

Bob Weinstein of Syosset recalls the evening he met his future wife, Sue.

In June 1967, I was at Jet Set, a singles bar I often went to in Manhattan. At one point I noticed a woman being harassed by another young man. She looked very uncomfortable, and I decided to step in and rescue her.

I walked over and, since I didn’t know her, I made up a name and said, “Sarah, I have to speak to you.” She realized what I was trying to do and said, “OK.”

We walked outside together. After she thanked me, I asked for her number. She replied, “Why not ask your friend?” and pointed to one of my buddies she happened to know. Her name was Sue Freinhar.

My friend gave me her number, and I called her the next week. We arranged a double date on June 17, at the Sheep Meadow in Central Park, for a free concert given by Barbra Streisand. I brought a blanket along with a picnic dinner and wine.

Sue was 21, and I was 22. She lived in Fresh Meadows, Queens, and I lived in neighboring Bayside. She taught a kindergarten class at CS 6  in the Bronx and was working on her master’s degree in education at Queens College that she received in 1971. I graduated from C.W. Post in Brookville and had recently enlisted in the Navy.

We went on a few more dates before I received my active-duty papers in July. This was during the Vietnam crisis, and I thought it would end our relationship. It did not. Sue said, “Let’s keep it going and see what happens.” 

I was assigned to the destroyer USS Wilkinson based in Newport, Rhode Island, where I served as yeoman. We sailed up and down the Eastern Seaboard testing sonar.

I was fortunate that most of my time in the service allowed me to have weekend leaves about every other month.

While on leave in June 1968, I proposed to Sue at my parent's luncheonette, the former Soda Spa in Port Washington. I secretly placed the diamond engagement ring between two slices of toast on her breakfast plate of scrambled eggs.

Our wedding was Oct. 5, 1968, at the Fresh Meadows Jewish Center in Queens. We spent our honeymoon in Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles. I was honorably discharged in December, and we moved to Forest Hills, Queens.

In 1971, I began a career in the natural vitamin supplement industry. Sue continued teaching kindergarten, first and second grade at CS 6 until 1976, when my company relocated to California.

We moved back to New York in 1980 and bought our home in Syosset. We have two daughters and five grandchildren.  

Sue has worked as a part-time saleswoman at Mieka Boutique  in Woodbury for the past 34 years, making other women look as beautiful as she does.  

I had my own vitamin supplement company from 1980 to 1994. I sold it and began working for Futurebiotics, a nutritional supplement manufacturer in Hauppauge where I am vice president of sales.

To celebrate our 50th anniversary in October, we took a trip to Iceland with friends and had a romantic dinner for two at Per Se  in Manhattan.  

We are so blessed and fortunate. Sue is the warmest, most giving and nicest person I know. She is the love of my life.

— With Virginia Dunleavy