I have been thinking a lot about family. Partly because I am of that age – beaming with pride as my son becomes everything he can be and watching my grandsons blossom.
When I stood at the wall in Jerusalem two summers ago, I touched the ancient stone and felt an electrical pulse from my hand straight to my heart, and in that instant, I understood that I was meant to be the conduit between the past and the future. I didn’t know what that meant at the time, but the feeling has stayed with me.
I was lucky enough to work in the family business that funded many of the Olin-Sang gifts. I knew many of the players from my grandfather E.L., my great uncles Dave, P.D. and Paul to my dad Burt, my uncle Larry Olin, and cousins Richard Olin, and Don Sang. I heard many of the stories about the family and the business, but funnily enough, I never heard about the foundation and how the decisions were made how to spend that money.
I grew up knowing that we had a legacy of philanthropy. I was taught that giving back was an expectation that must be fulfilled. I never really questioned the notion or how this legacy began. Now many of the people are gone. This website and this story began with an accidental meeting of the current CEO of Sinai Health Systems, Karen Teitelbaum. When I introduced myself and told her my connection to Mount Sinai Hospital she was thrilled. She said she was looking for family members who had been important to the hospital’s past and hopefully its future. I went to bed that night thinking about my dad and how important the hospital had been to him. Chairing the board and bringing Ruth Rothstein in as the first female hospital administrator in the country.
I woke up the next morning with a full -blown plan in mind to chronicle the family’s legacy of giving. Armed with stories and memories, I began to follow the trail of bread crumbs. I enlisted Richard Olin, my sister Rae, and cousin Andrea Feldmar, who then enlisted our cousin Irene Sang. I wrote to Brandeis, OSRUI, Mount Sinai, and JNF. I was directed to the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati where Dr Gary Zola helped me in any way that he could, including assigning an archivist and making introductions for me to Brandeis and JNF. I have included a list of the helpful people in case you might want to know more. I am collecting pictures and as many documents that I can find to chronicle our legacy. Richard is the webmaster.
I invite you to share your memories, correct mine if you have other information, and perhaps share these stories with your children and grandchildren. Not every family has a legacy such as ours. I am proud of what our family did. I hope you’ll want to join me as I continue to reach out to find out as much as I can from people and institutions whose lives we touched.
Denise Heimlich at OSRUI
Dr Gary Zola and Joe Weber at the American Jewish Archives
Katie LeClair Director of donor relations at Brandeis
Dr. Jonathan Sarna world renowned scholar at Brandeis
Mr Russell Robinson at JNF
Karen Teitelbaum CEO Sinai Health System
Chelsea Huszar Sinai Health
When did union institute become Olin Sang?
How did Brandeis find us?
Where else did we make an impact?
When was the Olin Sang foundation funded?
Do we really have an Olin Sang forest outside of Jerusalem?
What did our parents do to make the world a better place?
What have each of us done with our time, talent and treasure to continue the legacy?
What are our adult children doing to carry our name and legacy forward?