Harold's father, Solomon Samuel Aronson (Offshovitz), or Sam, emigrated from Kovno Gubernia, Russia, circa 1900, when he was about thirteen years old. He joined the family in Charleston, South Carolina, that sponsored his immigration, and worked for various merchants before opening a dry goods store in Lane, South Carolina, three years later. Harold's mother, Henrietta Furshman, was the daughter of Russian immigrants. Born and raised in New York City, she met Sam through her sister, who was married to his brother Aron. She married Sam and returned with him to Lane, where Harold and his older brother were born. Sam did not think the small southern town was an appropriate place to raise two Jewish boys, so they moved to New Jersey, where both he and Henrietta had family. When Harold finished high school, the family moved back to South Carolina, this time settling in Kingstree. As a lien merchant, Sam acquired a significant amount of land. Harold describes how his parents adjusted their religious practices according to circumstances, following Orthodoxy in New Jersey where it was easy to do, and attending services at Sumter's Reform Temple Sinai until a Conservative congregation, Beth Or, was organized in Kingstree in 1945. During World War II, Harold served as a B-17 pilot, conducting weather reconnaissance missions out of England. Reassigned to the States, Harold married Rose Louise Rich in September 1944. After he was discharged, they settled in her hometown, Orangeburg, South Carolina, where they established a successful aluminum awning business.
