Sad News – Jack Ornstein z’l
It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jack Ornstein, brother of Temple Sholom member Joan Gales-Howitt (Bruce Howitt) and brother-in-law of member Donna Ornstein, on April 18, 2020 in Montreal, QC at the age of 82.
We send our heartfelt condolences to Jack’s family in Montreal – his spouse, Micheline Williams, daughter, Dr. Gillian Morantz (Adrian Schauer), and grandchildren, Chloe and Damien – and his family in Vancouver – sisters, Joan Gales-Howitt (Bruce Howitt) and Marilyn Goodwin (Don Edmonds), sister-in-law, Donna Ornstein (Neil Ornstein z”l), nephew, Vincent Kruger (Shannon), niece, Janice Riahi (Nader), and his grand-nieces and nephews, Gabriella Riahi, Leila Riahi, Montana Kruger, and Dylan Kruger (Katie).
A virtual Shiva will be held on Wednesday April 22, 2020 at 7:00 pm PT via Zoom.
Advance registration is required for this Shiva. Please click the link below to register, if you would like to attend:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwsde6oqz4jGtHltT1ImgQMvZ_y-ogMC6hk
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing the information about joining the Shiva online.
May His Memory Be For a Blessing.
1 Comment
David Morris
My condolences to Jack’s family. He will be well remembered–indeed he is hard to forget, a true original and one of the most memorable figures I have ever met, at least in academic philosophy.
I arrived in the Philosophy Department after he retired, but got to know him during my time as Chair of the Philosophy Department. This was through discussions around his innovative and important online course in Biomedical Ethics. Jack was well ahead of the game, in Philosophy, and university wide, in seeing the possibilities for teaching online, and pushing to mount this course.
I could always tell when he’d arrived in the Department offices–gales of laughter would erupt across the hall in the Department office, and the air would begin to liven and crackle. I don’t think he ever missed an opportunity for a joke, a little shtick, or, more important, a chance to find out about people and lift them up a bit. He brought an air of good cheer (and sometimes a smidgen of happy mischief), into our midst.
He’d clearly had a very large impact on our students, many of whom learnt a lot from him before retirement, and many who learned from his Biomedical ethics course after. The Department owes a great debt of thanks to him for this course: it continues to be very attractive to students–increasingly so in our current moment–and important for the success of the Department.
He will be missed and remembered.
Alav hashalom,
David Morris
Professor of Philosophy
Concordia University