Beloved TV Star Shows Her Courage In Standing Up Against Terror — Holocaust Museum Houston Honors Patricia Heaton
30 Years Of Fighting Against Antisemitism
By Shelby Hodge //
What: Holocaust Museum Houston Lyndon Baines Johnson Moral Courage Award dinner
Where: Hilton Americas-Houston
PC Moment: The Holocaust Museum Houston’s Lyndon Baines Johnson Moral Courage Award dinner, celebrating the 30th anniversary of this H-Town institution, echoed a call for honesty, solidarity and courage against all kinds of prejudice and hatred. Emmy Award-winning actress Patricia Heaton took home the Moral Courage Award in recognition of her outspoken advocacy for the Jewish community and her co-founding of the October 7th Coalition following the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023.
“There is no small effort here . . .We always must stand up,” Heaton told the gathering of close to 1,000.
The program included testimony from Holocaust survivor Edith Bannett Jucker, who shared her harrowing childhood flight from Nazi-occupied Poland, her time in a Siberian gulag and her eventual path to Houston. Jucker’s remarks focused on the importance of the museum’s mission as Holocaust denialism and antisemitism continues to rise.
“Moral courage is not abstract. It is a decision. To act, to speak, to take responsibility especially when it would be easier not to,” Holocaust Museum CEO Gary Weisserman said. “The real divide is not between those who see and those who do not but between those who take responsibility for what they see. And those who do not.”
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On a beautiful note, the program, emceed by Khambrel Marshall, began with mezzo soprano Sarah Dyer Jones performing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” setting a tone of reflection and hope.
Survivors were not forgotten as those attending were recognized and a remembrance was given to those lost in the past year. Dinner chairs Jeannie and Gary Wermuth‘s families are second generation survivors while HMH board chair Elyse Spector Kalmans is a third generation survivor.
“Our family’s story was nearly erased once,” Jeannie Wermuth says. “Through remembrance, through education and through courage we must ensure it is never erased again.”
The dinner was made possible through the generosity of presenting sponsor Dorothy Wiesenthal Levinson, honorary chairs Patti and Michael Morgan, and host committee chairs Nancy and Jack Dinerstein. Special thanks went to Alan Helfman, who sponsored security for the evening.
PC Seen: Rhona and Bruce Caress, Patti and Mike Morgan, Mindy and Steve Finger, Wendy and Howard Cohen, Regina Rogers, Jessica Strehlow and Brian Caress, Erica and George Hittner, Mandy and Ronnie Caress, Cyvia Wolff, Heidi and David Gerger, Lesha and Tom Elsenbrook, and Benjamin Warren and Joy Warren.
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