Natalie Gene Moskowitz Ornish, who had successful careers as a trailblazing Texas historian, composer and playwright for children, book publisher, documentary filmmaker, and real-estate investor, passed away May 16, 2016.
Funeral services will be held Friday, May 20, at noon in the chapel of Sparkman-Hillcrest, located at 7405 W. Northwest Highway, Dallas, Texas 75225. Reception to follow at Congregation Shearith Israel, 9401 Douglas Ave., Dallas, Texas 75225, in the Ornish Garden.
Mrs. Ornish was BOI, “born on the island,” in Galveston on February 15, 1926, a third-generation Texan on both sides whose family dated to 1848. Her father survived the famous 1900 Galveston storm. She graduated from Ball High School at age 14, obtained a bachelor’s degree in English from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville at age 17, and at age 18 became the youngest person at the time to obtain a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Following graduation from Northwestern, she worked for the Associated Press in Omaha, Nebraska, later returning to Galveston, where she worked in public relations for several organizations and nightclubs during Galveston’s heyday.
She married Dallas dentist, Dr. Edwin P. Ornish, in 1949 and later founded Dallas Records and Natwin Creative Productions.
Mrs. Ornish wrote the lyrics and music for, and produced, two albums for children. In 1957, “Songs for Suburban Children” was released. A second album, “The Ages of Childhood,” was featured in the famed Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalogue, and songs from the album were performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. “Just Twelve,” a musical she wrote about the angst of being a pre-teenager, was produced by Theatre Three. She also produced and directed several documentaries, including one on competitive diving and another about research on Alzheimer’s Disease.
Her first sojourn into Texas history was a biography of Rabbi Henry Cohen of Galveston.
In 1976, Mrs. Ornish wrote and produced a multi-media presentation, “Texans All,” as part of the U.S. Bicentennial, and it was used by students in the Dallas Independent School District, as well as by University of North Texas students to fulfill the multicultural requirement for a master’s degree in education.
Between 1986 and 1996, Mrs. Ornish contributed 61 entries to the prestigious “New Handbook of Texas,” an encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture published by the Texas State Historical Association.
In 1988, following 12 years of research, Mrs. Ornish founded Texas Heritage Press and published “Pioneer Jewish Texans: Their Impact on Texas and American History for 400 Years, 1590-1990.” The book was the first comprehensive history of Jews in Texas, from Jewish Spanish conquistadors of the 1500s to modern times.
The trailblazing, award-winning book created interest in the topic and spawned several books in this genre by other authors and received a favorable review in the “New York Times Book Review.” In 2011, it was republished by Texas A&M University Press.
In 1991, Mrs. Ornish began six years of research into the life of Herman Ehrenberg, a colorful, German-born adventurer who fought in battles for Texas independence and was an explorer and mapmaker in the American West, Hawaii, and Tahiti. She obtained Ehrenberg’s 1844 memoir of life in Texas prior to its independence and commissioned its English translation. In 1997, Texas Heritage Press published “Ehrenberg: Goliad Survivor, Old West Explorer,” which includes the translated memoir, along with her biography of Ehrenberg.
Mrs. Ornish’s writings were included in the 2008 compilation, “Literary Dallas,” published by Texas Christian University Press as part of its “Literary Cities” series. She was voted an associate member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas by Dallas’s Charles S. Taylor Chapter, a source of great pride to her. She is listed in “The World Who’s Who of Women,” “The International Who’s Who of Intellectuals,” and other honorary publications
With Dr. Edwin P. Ornish, her husband and life partner of 62 years who passed away in April, 2012, Mrs. Ornish helped build a successful commercial real-estate business. They also enjoyed ballroom dancing and were members of several social dance clubs. During the 1960s, they enjoyed entertaining family and guests aboard their cabin cruiser, the NATWIN.
Mrs. Ornish engaged in numerous philanthropic activities, including: donating the therapy pool at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Finley Ewing Cardiovascular & Fitness Center, the lobby of the Edna Zale Building at Jewish Family Service of Dallas, the children’s indoor water spray park at the Jewish Community Center Sports & Fitness Complex, the Ornish Library at the NCSY (National Conference for Synagogue Youth) Center, and the Ornish Garden at Congregation Shearith Israel.
At SMU, her husband’s alma mater, they established the Ornish Room at Fondren Library and contributed to the Texana Room at DeGolyer Library. Mrs. Ornish also donated many of her historical research papers to SMU. She contributed to the U.T. Southwestern Medical Center for research in breast cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease and to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the Stradivarius Patron level, as well as to the Dallas Arboretum. As another act of philanthropy, she established the Ornish Garden at Congregation Shearith Israel.
Mrs. Ornish is survived by her four children: Laurel Ornish of Dallas; Dean Ornish, M.D., of Sausalito, California (Anne Pearce); Steven Ornish, M.D., of La Mesa, California (Martha Chapman); and Kathy Ornish of Lansing, Michigan (John Olstad), and four grandchildren: Andre, Miles, Lucas, and Jasmine. Dr. and Mrs. Ornish also helped raise three foster children: Mitzi Krockover, M.D., of Paradise Valley, AZ, and twins Mark and Lisa Stein.
Mrs. Ornish was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Edwin P. Ornish, D.D.S., along with her parents, George Israel Moskowitz and Bess Shapiro Moskowitz, and siblings Herschel Moskowitz, Esther Moskowitz Rosenthal, Ronald D. Moskowitz, and Charlotte Moskowitz.
Contributions in her memory may be made to Jewish Family Service of Dallas.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18