way about her while speaking. I invited my sister who is not part of the oil and gas industry to attend one of our luncheons just to see her in action. Not many have the generous heart that Faith did. She generously donated jewelry pieces from her collection for local and national events to use as prizes or to raise money for charity. A large part of her heart was dedicated to those who cannot speak for themselves, animals. You may not realize that Faith was a board member at the Tulsa SPCA for over a decade, close to two, I imagine. She has been a legal advisor for the Ward Wiseman Animal Haven. She was also a board member for Pets Helping People, an organization that helps incarcerated women re-enter society by training them to make a living doing pet grooming. She also received an award for her work on behalf of Emergency Infant Services. There is so much more. All these things show her selfless nature, her desire to help, with no expectation of anything in return. Faith, the friend. If you ever needed advice, she was who you went to, both professionally and personally. She was wonderful with people going through estate planning. She could help individuals navigate through a process that many shy away from because it can be uncomfortable. She always explained things in a light-hearted manner that people without legal background could easily understand, and always with an appropriate dose of humor. I can tell you from personal experience, she was there for my family during our darkest hour. She was there to advise us from a legal perspective, but as my husband said, you felt like you were dealing with a friend, rather than an attorney. Faith had a way of making you feel like the most important person in the room. Others may be able to do that, but rare is one who can make everyone feel like the most important person in the room at the same time. I know I speak for all of us when I say how much I will miss her. I will close with some quotes from Faith that were captured in a Tulsa World Spotlight article from October 17, 2013. You should look it up, it will make you smile. “My mantra is, ‘It’s nice to be nice’”. “Lawyers, more than anyone else, need to volunteer in the community and give back…It never fails that I get back more than I give. Those are the things that make it so rewarding.” When the Tulsa World reporter asked her what she wanted people to remember her by, she responded, “As a friend to man and beast—not always in that order”. Mission accomplished, lovely lady. Until we meet again…
Remembering Faith Orlowski By Brenda Dickey, CDOA
With a very heavy heart we remember D. Faith Orlowski, prominent Tulsa attorney, who passed away on October 8, 2020 after a short illness.
When I was asked to write this, I wondered how you pay tribute to
someone like Faith without writing a novel. Even if her life was cut too short, she made a lot of history. While her education, credentials, and work experience are very important and helped shape her as a person, what is more important is how she chose to use those things to make the world better. I encourage you to search the internet using her name. You will find lots of amazing information about Faith. For purposes of this writing, I prefer to focus on Faith, the person. Faith has been a member of both SADOA and NADOA since 1994. She received the NADOA Educational Award in 2006 and has been awarded the SADOA Lifetime Achievement Award twice. She worked tirelessly for both organizations, and we have all benefited from it. If you ever had the pleasure of attending a luncheon or seminar with Faith, you knew when she arrived at the venue. Your first indication was that exuberant and infectious laugh of hers. You could hear the laugh before she came into your line of vision. When she came into sight, you saw her dressed to the nines, complete with beautiful jewelry from her sideline collection. Her signature hairstyle was always on point, never a hair out of place. But her most wonderful accessory of all was her beautiful smile. She entered the room almost as if saying, “I’m here!” Faith was a sought-after speaker who always drew a big crowd to her presentations. She could take a dry topic like Affidavits of Heirship, for instance, and make it entertaining by interjecting hilarious, made-up (or not) scenarios to illustrate. She took the time to solicit questions from the attendees beforehand so that she could gear her presentation to help meet the real needs of Division Order Analysts. She loved interacting with the attendees, and her presentations were always peppered with her awesome laugh, making it so enjoyable. Faith made sure that we had comprehensive presentation materials to take back with us, and these are treasured reference materials for many of us. She had such a
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N a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n o f D i v i s i o n O r d e r A n a l y s t s
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