Mort Zetlin was serving a stint in the U.S. Army in Germany during the early 1950s when he first encountered Mercedes-Benz automobiles.
Little did he know that the chance meeting would help define the next 70 years of his life.
Zetlin, now 94, is chairman of Mercedes-Benz of Arlington and Mercedes-Benz of Alexandria. On Sept. 16, he was honored by the Optimist Club of Arlington for decades of service to the club and across the broader community.
More than a dozen family members spanning multiple generations were among the nearly 100 attendees at the celebration, held at Washington Golf & Country Club.
“It’s a great day — just a great day,” said Sandy Bushue, a club officer who helped coordinate the event.
Zetlin agreed.
“I’m flattered by it,” he told ARLnow of the recognition.
The Arlington Optimist Club is a multigenerational affair for the Zetlin family. Mort Zetlin recruited his son Mark into the club years ago. Mark Zetlin has served several stints as president, and will rotate into the post again shortly.
Mark Zetlin, a sales manager at the Arlington Mercedes-Benz dealership, said he and his two sisters had a healthy childhood.
“They were fantastic parents,” he said of Mort and Cindy Zetlin. “My dad was an outstanding role model. I’m happy everybody was able to be here.”
Early life sets the stage for success
In 2019, Mort Zetlin chronicled his life in an autobiography, “My Life as I Remember It.”
Running more than 600 pages, it is “very, very honest,” said Bushue, who read it from cover to cover.
“What I took away most was gratefulness,” she said of Zetlin’s response to the ups and downs of a lengthy, eventful life.
Born in Baltimore on Jan. 16, 1932, the second of two children to Morris and Betty Zetlin, he moved with his family to D.C. two years later. His father managed a fine-clothing store and, in the 1940s, opened his own, Alan Neil.
Graduating from Roosevelt High School, Mort Zetlin first followed his father into the clothing business, but with the Korean War looming, he later sought to join the U.S. Air Force.
The U.S. Army poached him instead, recruiting Zetlin to serve in the Army Security Agency. After basic training and specialty school, he was dispatched not to Korea but to Frankfurt, Germany.
After military service, Zetlin returned to the D.C. area, beginning studies at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
In 1955, he met Cynthia Brooks. In his book, Zetlin described her “radiant face, bright eyes and a beautiful smile.”
They married in June 1956, with Mort Zetlin attempting to manage schooling, a full-time job selling real estate and a soon-to-be growing family.
Something had to give, and that turned out to be his studies at Georgetown. He withdrew from the school with regret but with the understanding that it was the best option at the time.
Starting in the used-car lot
Cynthia Zetlin was the daughter of Saul Brooks, who in the 1930s established an Arlington gas station and mechanic shop called American Service Center. He and a partner also began selling Studebaker automobiles, and in the late 1950s became a U.S. distributor for Mercedes-Benz.
Despite his affection for his father-in-law, Zetlin was initially hesitant to work for him. But in 1957, he went to visit Brooks.
“I needed a job,” Zetlin told ARLnow, recalling the conversation clearly from a distance of nearly 70 years.
“He said, ‘Where do you want to work?'” Zetlin said. “I said, ‘Wherever you need me.'”
“He started me at the used-car lot,” Zetlin said.
In just his second month on the job, Zetlin sold 21 cars, he recalled.
“I had a background in sales, [so] I was good at it,” he said.
Brooks served as a mentor, and Zetlin advanced to general manager in 1972 and general partner in 1975. Today, the dealership is one of just five of the original 35 U.S. Mercedes-Benz dealerships still in business, and the only one owned by a single family through that period.
On the home front, Mort and Cynthia Zetlin raised their children, Mark, Donna and Bonnie. The family ultimately grew to include eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Mort and Cynthia Zetlin currently divide their time between homes in Potomac, Md., and Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Optimist Club nears 80th anniversary
The Optimist Club of Arlington was chartered in December 1946, part of a post-war boom in service organizations.
Funds raised through its signature project, a Christmas tree sale, support efforts aimed at youth, providing scholarships and assistance to athletic teams.
Jeff Englander, who presided over the Sept. 16 meeting, previewed the club’s upcoming Respect for Law Luncheon, slated for October.
Christmas tree sales begin at the Knights of Columbus at 5115 Little Falls Road on Nov. 27. It is the largest community-based tree sale in Virginia; the 2,200 trees will be “flying off the lot” once sales open, Englander predicted.
In June, another longtime member — Wilmer “Whiz” Mountain — was honored by the Optimists.
Mountain taught math and was an early computer-science instructor at Yorktown High School during a three-decade career in which 3,000 local students passed through his classroom.
“We want our longtime members to know we appreciate their service,” Bushue said.
In 2024, the club had honored former state delegate and Circuit Court judge James Almand for his lengthy service to the club. Almand died earlier this year.
Like the Zetlins, several generations of Almands have been Optimists.
