Herbert Leo Ennis Ph.D., צבי אריה בן רפאל ופיגא

Dr. Ennis was born during the depression and raised in an unheated apartment in East New York, Brooklyn. He attended Brooklyn College, beginning at age 16, where he discovered what would become his lifelong passion-biology. He went on for a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Northwestern University in Chicago under the tutelage of Maurice Sussman. He did his first post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School working with Martin Lubin. and it was there he met another mentor, Luigi Gorini. His second post-doc was at Brandies University reuniting with his Ph.D. mentor Maurice Sussman who had since moved to Brandies. It was there he met his lifelong friend and collaborator Paul Cohen. While in Boston, he met his wife Judith Ann nee Wolper whom he married in 1960 and with whom he had two sons, Ron and Ethan, whom he cherished. After completing his post-doctoral work, he worked as a research scientist at St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

While in Memphis, he marched in a protest led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 1969, he took a job at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, the basic science research division of Hoffman LaRoche pharmaceutical company which allowed him to live close to his brother Lou and Lou’s wife Judy, and children Ray, Felicia and David. At Roche he made another lifelong friend, his carpool partner and fellow scientist, Nat Brot. Upon retirement age, he “volunteered” as a full-time researcher at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons for 23 years until the COVID pandemic, for most of this time collaborating with his colleague Rich Kessin. His research in several areas, most notably cell differentiation in slime molds, yielded seminal insights described in approximately 100 research papers including publications in Science and the Proceeding of the National Academy of Science. In the last year of his research, his work yielded a patent for him and his lab.

Uncommon among his peers, he remained steadfast in his observance of Orthodox Judaism and was blessed with raising an observant family. He was a loving father, raising his sons, in partnership with his wife, to have a strong commitment to the Jewish ideals of ethics, morality, honesty, Orthodox observance and family. He was a pillar of the Orthodox community in West Orange, NJ where he served on the chevra Kadisha and as gabbai of the hashkama minyan.

His soft-spoken, kind demeaner was appreciated by his family and friends. He did many acts of selfless, quiet kindness for family and friends, especially the lonely.

He loved high culture including classical music, theater and art, 20th century American folk music, knowledge of all types and hiking. He traveled the world with his wife Judith imbibing the cultural offerings and natural beauty of the entire world. He was a voracious reader and passionate afficionado of the U.S Civil War and the “Founding Fathers.”

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Judith, bother Lou and his family, son Ron, daughter-in-law Pam, son Ethan, daughter-in-law Rena, grandchildren Ariel, Akiva, Avi, Yaakov, Yoni, Gila, Azaria, Noa and great-grandchildren Yair and Lielle.