Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Gershom C. Morningstar

Gershom C. Morningstar, age 76 of Orlando, Florida passed away Friday, March 4th, 2011 at Eden Home., New Braunfels, Texas. Gershom was born in Saginaw, Michigan the son of the late Lillian (Lyman) and Ralph Ray Morningstar. He moved to Central Florida from Ann Arbor Michigan in 1986. He was employed as a University Professor and was a publisher for Florida Blue Sheet.

Gershom leaves to cherish his memory wife Carolanne (Baker) Morningstar of Orlando; three daughters, Penny Wing of New Braunfels, TX, Bridget Clark of St. Cloud, FL, Lynne Darr of Manchester, MI; a son Charles Bruce Morningstar of Palo Alto, CA; two sisters Marcia Tetloff of Tacoma, WA, Betty Hansen of Saginaw, MI; a brother Lyman Morningstar of Saginaw, MI; 7 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved you so much and miss you more. Always loving and thinking about you. What a terrible loss you are to the ones who knew you and loved you!!!!! Crying right now!!

Unknown said...

Gershom was an amazing man and Father. He was so talented and smart. I have never met another man on this earth that compares to him. I love you Dad. RIP

Patrick Counihan said...

Mr Morningstar (as I knew him) was a wonderful and profound influence on me at a young age. Before PCs were popular or even discussed among the masses (late 70's), he recognized my interest, and allowed me to spend many hours simply playing, experimenting and exploring with his computer at his home in Ann Arbor. He was most gracious with his time, and insisted that I come over to use his system even if he wasn't home!

I'm 42 now and I wish I had stayed in touch with Gersh to let him know how grateful I am, and the amazing influence his knowledge, encouragement and generosity were on my life.

Peace be with you Gersh. The world is a much better place for your having been in it.

Patrick Counihan
Chandler, AZ (by way of Ann Arbor, Pioneer HS 1987)

Anonymous said...

your daughter bridget is a mean and hateful women, hope you were not like her or you will be in hell

mr_fignutz said...

That sucks! I'm just now finding out. I was going to contact you and make a joke about a speech I made in your class that sounds a lot like occupy wall street. You were only mean enough to be a great teacher. Thank you.

Joseph Fowler

Lynne said...

To the person who stayed "anonymous" and spoke of his daughter Bridget.....Talk about mean and hateful...maybe you should look in the mirror. You should be ashamed of yourself for putting that on here.

Unknown said...

He was like a loving grandfather figure that was excited about film and the stories they told, by helping to employ those interested in the craft. Oliver Twisted maybe not a ground breaking film, but it was a passion project with heart and Gershom's heart made it possible. With time we do not forget but instead we cherish the memories a man made for many. We were all better for him and carry the love he gave to all.

Carl Marfurt said...

Gershom and his son Charles wrote an absolutely hilarious, tongue-in-cheek article called "On the Nature of Space and Stuff," sometime in the late 70s I believe. The article made its rounds through the Department of Anatomy, Hahnemann Medical School, Philadelphia, when I was a first year graduate student. I am pretty sure it was published in the Journal of Irreproduceable Results, a harbinger of the satirical "The Onion." Their paper was the stuff of legends, and I kept a hard-copy in my filing cabinet for over 40 years and talked about it frequently, usually over a cold beer with colleagues. I rediscovered the paper earlier today when I was purging my filing cabinets in light of my impending retirement (don't worry: I kept the paper). I decided to Google-search Gersh and Charles, and was saddened to learn that Gersh had passed away. I would have loved to have met him, based on that one paper only! He sounds like "my kinda university professor!" My sincere condolences to his family, and my thanks to Charles and your Dad for giving me and my fellow grad student colleagues some much-needed laughs during a stressful time in our academic careers!

Paul K. Ferrell said...

Living here in Central Florida during the 90's, I thought I could make a go at being a professional film actor, and the Florida Blue Sheet was my and every other Floridian actor's go-to bible. I quit the pursuit many years ago and thus lost track of the Sheet, but this morning, I began to wonder whatever happened to it. So with a Google search and one thing leading to another, I learned not only of its demise, but also the names of the individuals responsible for it, which to my shame, I hadn't known. And then found its co-founder had passed away in 2011, and furthermore, read of all these extraordinary things about him. Yes, I think he's another person I regret not having met. But I will add here that his is yet another example of the power for good that a single person can yield, for so many, over so many years and so much space. And I want to definitely say, after all these years, how grateful I am for the Florida Blue Sheet - and for his passion, his faith, his humor, and his wonderful desire to help all he could. My condolences to all who love him, and take care.

Anonymous said...

I was anointed as executive producer of a large studio in the Orlando area back in the late 90's. Nobody in the Orlando world would pay any attention to us. I accidentally ran into a copy of the Florida Blue Sheet, decided to run an ad and picked up a client immediately. I called the Sheet to thank them for their help, and Girsh answered the phone. It was the beginning of a wonderful relationship that I will NEVER be able to come close to equalling. Girsh was one of the kindest people I have ever known. I was lucky enough to have spent four years in LA and Hollywood producing for some of the big guys and if it hadn't been for Girsh Morningstar, my career would have NEVER gotten off the ground. I have known a lot of people in the business. Some nice. Some not so. I have never known a kinder person in my life than Girsh. I am sure he's up in heaven helping the big guy keep the peace and still wearing those worn out old brown shoes. I wouldn't change ANYTHING about Girsh... Not even the shoes.