Groom in arranged marriage at Mall of America dies at 48
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — David Weinlick knew he would get married on June 13, 1998. He just didn't know who his bride would be.
Friends came to his aid and picked Elizabeth Runze from among hundreds of interested women. After knowing each other for only a few minutes, Weinlick and Runze said "I do" at a well-publicized wedding at the Mall of America in Bloomington.
The marriage lasted almost 20 years until Weinlick's death from colon cancer on Sunday night. He was 48.
Weinlick, who was diagnosed with terminal, inoperable stage IV cancer in March 2017, died in hospice care in a Minneapolis suburb, said his friend, Minneapolis City Council member Steve Fletcher, who helped arranged Weinlick's marriage to Runze.