Louise “Lou” Herrington Ornelas

Louise Ornelas, a woman who gave millions of dollars to causes she cared about, is being remembered for her warmth and generosity. 

Mrs. Ornelas died Tuesday in Tyler. She was 93. 

Services are set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Green Acres Baptist Church with the Rev. David O. Dykes officiating. Burial will follow at Mason Cemetery in Arp under direction of Stewart Family Funeral Home. Visitation is set for 5-8 p.m. Friday in the Bethany Suite and Worship Center foyer at Green Acres Baptist Church. 

For decades, Mrs. Ornelas and her husband have donated to improve health care and education. 

“Her generosity will touch thousands of lives, now and forever,” said Dr. Mike Metke, a friend of the family and the chancellor and CEO of Tyler Junior College.

“Lou was incredibly generous,” Metke said. “At TJC, together with Bob Rogers (a previous husband) and later with her husband, Joseph Ornelas, Lou helped make possible numerous scholarships and women’s athletics programs as well as the Rogers Student Center, the Ornelas Health and Physical Education Center, and the Ornelas Hall Complex.”

Metke praised Mrs. Ornelas’ compassion.

“She was a beautiful lady inside and out who never forgot where she came from,” he said.

He said she and her second husband were risk-takers who were not afraid of hard work. “They risked everything to start a cable business from the ground up. Lou told me how even she flagged traffic while Bob climbed poles.”

Over the years, the Ornelases donated to Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System.

“Like so many, I knew Louise Ornelas as a giving, gracious advocate for the people of Northeast Texas,” said Scott Fossey, president of the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System Foundation. “Across this community, this region and the state of Texas, for many years Mrs. Ornelas built a legacy of philanthropy and altruism that will continue to improve the lives of so many people decades to come.”

Fossey said Mrs. Ornelas gave to others “abundantly, selflessly and in a very genuine, heartfelt way.”

Chris Glenney, president of Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System, said Mrs. Ornelas “made a positive and heartfelt impact on the lives of every person in our organization, leaving behind a legacy of benevolence and civic responsibility that will live on for many years to come.”

‘A LITTLE COUNTRY GIRL’

She was born on June 15, 1925, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to Bill and Minnie Lou Herrington. She was the second of seven children. Her family moved to Arp when she was still a child. 

Her story of rising from humble beginnings to a life of philanthropy received national recognition in 1996 when she was awarded an Horatio Alger Award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans recognizes those who rise from humble beginnings and through hard work contribute significantly to society.

“There are so many more people who are more deserving than I am,” Mrs. Ornelas said after being notified of her selection. “This award goes to presidents and people like Bob Hope. I’m just a little country girl.”

Her childhood was spent on a tenant farm outside of Arp. When she was a little girl, a birthday party for the landowner’s daughter proved a turning point in her life.

“My mother made us dresses out of flour sacks for the birthday party and, after we had played for awhile, they turned the water hose on us,” she once told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “I decided then that I would never treat people the way we were treated that day.”

She first married Martin Eugene Pettis, the best friend of one her brothers. They moved to West Texas where he worked in the oil fields before being killed in a car accident. They had one son, Ricky.

She returned to East Texas and met and married Bob Rogers. In 1981, Louise and Bob Rogers founded TCA Cable in Tyler, an early entry in the rapidly growing and lucrative cable television industry.

TCA Cable expanded to have 883,000 customers in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, New Mexico, Idaho and Louisiana. It was sold to Cox Communications in 1999 for $3.5 billion. Cox later sold the company to Suddenlink.

The Rogers divorced and, in 1992, she married Joseph Ornelas, an investor and businessman.

Mrs. Ornelas received honorary degrees from Tyler Junior College, Baylor University and East Texas Baptist University for success in business and support of education.

In 2001, Mr. and Mrs. Ornelas received the T.B. Butler Award as Tyler’s most outstanding citizens. In that same year, Mrs. Ornelas was honored by the Texas Legislature for philanthropic deeds that benefit education, medicine and religious institutions.

“Guided by honest values, basic goodness and clear goals, Mrs. Ornelas is using her resources to make a real difference in the lives of countless people, and it is both a privilege and a pleasure to recognize her great contributions to this state,” read the resolution presented at the state Capitol.

Mr. and Mrs. Ornelas were praised on the occasion of receiving the 2001 People of Vision award from East Texas Regional Branch of Prevent Blindness Texas.

“Jesus said, ‘It’s more blessed to give than to receive,”’ said Pastor David Dykes of Green Acres Baptist Church. “In that respect, Lou and Joseph Ornelas are two of the most blessed people in East Texas, because they are so unselfish.”

PHILANTHOPY

In 2016, the couple received the Galaxy Award from UT Health Northeast for funding scholarships for students in health care and research.

“The numerous heartfelt gifts that the Ornelases have given to so many institutions, including UT Health Northeast, have improved health care, education and quality of life for all of us in East Texas,” Dr. Kirk A. Calhoun, the hospital president, said in presenting the award. “Their leadership and generosity is inspiring.”

Also in 2016, Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System dedicated the Bill Herrington and Joseph Z. Ornelas HealthPark, a 43,500-square-foot medical facility located at Grande Boulevard and Texas Highway 110 near Whitehouse. Bill Herrington was Mrs. Ornelas’ brother.

In 2002, the couple donated to Mother Frances (now Christus Mother Frances) Hospital’s Heart Institute and Surgery Center in the hospital’s Joseph Z. and Louise H. Ornelas Tower.

Mr. and Mrs. Ornelas received the Mirabeau B. Lamar Medal in 2012 from the Council of Public University Presidents and Chancellors, Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas and Texas Association of Community Colleges for contributions to Texas higher education.

East Texas Baptist University, TJC and the University of Texas at Tyler nominated them for the award.

The Ornelases have contributed millions to colleges to build and improve facilities and provide for scholarships.

“This year, over 25,000 college students will learn, interact and live in buildings that were constructed through the generous contributions of Louise H. and Joseph Z. Ornelas,” East Texas Baptist University President Dr. Dub Oliver once wrote in nominating the couple for an honor. “Louise and Joseph have supported all sectors of higher education in Texas including private universities, community colleges and public universities. This remarkable couple has made an unmistakable mark on higher education in Texas.”

At ETBU, the couple’s contributions have provided for a residence hall, spiritual life center, gym, stadium and student center, all of which bear their name.

At TJC, Ornelas helped underwrite the Rogers Student Center, the Louise H. and Joseph Z. Ornelas Residential Complex and the Ornelas Health & Physical Education Center. Other gifts include funding endowed scholarships and a women’s athletics endowment.

At UT Tyler, the couple has given donations to build the university’s dormitory, its first Fine and Visual Arts Complex and the Louise Herrington Patriot Center. Their gifts have provided for scholarships in nursing, engineering, fine arts and education and an endowed professorship. UT Tyler honored the Ornelases as its 2000 Patriots of the Year.

“Our hearts are full and words cannot adequately express our gratitude for the generosity Mrs. Ornelas has shown to the UT Tyler community,” UT Tyler President Michael Tidwell said. “Her selfless deeds are too numerous to mention and too important to forget, and her desire to improve lives through education is perpetually evident throughout our campus. We are forever blessed. Our deepest sympathies to her family.”

Thanks to a gift from Mrs. Ornelas, Baylor University in 2015 purchased a building as the new site of its Louise Herrington School of Nursing. She previously had endowed the university with a $13 million gift to fund the nursing school. She received Baylor University’s Herbert H. Reynolds Exemplary Service Award in 1996.

The couple has been honored by Brook Hill School, a private school in Bullard, for contributions. They gave money for Ornelas Hall, Lauderdale Hall, Herrington Sports Center and the Ann Kimrey Gymnatorium, which is named after Mrs. Ornelas’ sister.

HONORS, SERVICE

Mrs. Ornelas received the 2005 Heart of a Champion Award from the Northeast Texas Fellowship of Christian Athletes. East Texas Communities Foundation recognized the couple with its Isadore Roosth Outstanding Philanthropist Award in 2000.

She was honored at the Women in Tyler Day Luncheon in 2004 as one of the city’s women who “make good things happen.” The Ornelases received a Star Award as longtime supporters of the University of Texas at Tyler’s Cowan Center and the Hope Award from the Tyler Salvation Army for exemplary volunteer service. The Louise H. and Joseph Z. Ornelas Center is the headquarters of The Salvation Army in Tyler.

Her memberships over the years included East Texas Symphony League, Salvation Army, UT Tyler Development Board, President’s Association and Friends of the Arts, Cowan Center’s Advisory Boards and boards at East Texas Baptist University and Tyler Junior College.

Many organizations and projects have benefited from the couple’s generosity and volunteerism including Texas Association for Symphony Orchestras, PATH, Camp Fannin Association, Wallace’s Saddle Up, TASCA, American Cancer Society, Talsu Kristiga School, Habitat for Humanity of Smith County, Literacy Council of Tyler, Children’s Advocacy Center, American Diabetes Association, East Texas Food Bank, Children Are a Gift Foundation, Tyler Day Nursery, American Diabetes Association, Alzheimer’s Alliance of North Texas, Junior League of Tyler, Texas Chest Foundation, Meals on Wheels, Bethesda Health Clinic, Boy Scouts of America, East Texas Baptist Association, East Texas Crisis Center, Women’s Symphony League, Talsi Christian School Fund, Sunrise Prayer Breakfast, Head Start, Texas College, Discover Life and Light Up Tomorrow Fritz Smith Evangelism Association.

TWITTER: @TMTDanny

Survivors include her husband, Joseph Z. Ornelas; a sister, Ann Kimrey of Tyler; a brother, Billy Creel Herrington; sons, Rick, Randy and Russell Rogers; daughters Becky Wangner, Sheryl Palmer, Cindy Scott, Rita Seldenrust and Andrea Wegener; 20 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.