David Oreck

Oreck was born on September 17, 1923, in Duluth, Minnesota, to Jewish parents Abraham and Sheba Oreck (née Polinsky). He attended the University of Minnesota Duluth. When he was a child, his father took him on a flight in a Ford Trimotor and, on the ice of Lake Superior, the aircraft landed on skis. The experience proved so exciting to Oreck that he became fascinated with planes, and the mechanics of engines and electronics.

Shortly after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Oreck joined the United States Army Air Corps and served as pilot, navigator, and bombardier in the Pacific Theater for over two years. He participated in bombing missions over Japan in B-29s.

Oreck had a wife, Jan; three adult children (Steven, Tom, and Bruce) from his previous marriage to Paula Sarnoff (niece of David Sarnoff), and seven grandchildren.

Oreck died of natural causes on February 15, 2023, at his home in Mississippi. He was 99. He was interred at Metairie Cemetery.

Oreck and his family have donated money and specimens to mineralogical museums and exhibitions including the Denver Museum of Nature and Science; the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum, and Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems.

The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans have credited Oreck and his family as major contributors to their Jewish community, and New Orleans as a whole.

Oreck made significant contributions to the Isidore Newman School in New Orleans.