"Set your priorities in life and faithfully follow them, always observing and reassessing your path." Dr. Irving Moskowitz's lifetime of accomplishments is a testament to his adherence to this doctrine.
As the ninth of thirteen children, Irving Moskowitz was born in 1928 in New York City to Polish immigrant parents. His family soon moved to Milwaukee where he grew up in a poor, close-knit neighborhood, where education was highly emphasized. Young Irving, always competitive was an avid baseball player. With a glove won from a friend in a bet, he played on the local streets and playgrounds and became an All-Star outfielder in the Municipal AAA League of Milwaukee. He had a .421 batting average and was offered contracts by both the Chicago and Cleveland professional baseball organizations. He turned them down to pursue his dream of becoming a physician.
In 1946, he entered the University of Wisconsin where he received the Phi Beta Sigma scholastic award for academic excellence. After receiving his Bachelor's Degree in Medical Science in 1949, Dr. Moskowitz began practicing medicine in Long Beach, California in 1953. Focused and ambitious, Dr. Moskowitz transformed his career as a physician into an entrepreneurial career building and managing hospitals. In 1968, Dr. Moskowitz's considerable business success enabled him to establish a charitable organization funded solely by his personal contributions.
In 1988, the City of Hawaiian Gardens, California gave approval to The Irving Moskowitz Foundation to operate the Bingo Club in Hawaiian Gardens as a charitable, non-profit organization. Thus began the unique, intimate relationship that the City of Hawaiian Gardens and The Irving Moskowitz Foundation still share. In 1995, the Foundation opened the Hawaiian Gardens Food Bank.
Dr. Moskowitz has dedicated his life to his family and to his philanthropic calling of supporting life-enhancing activities. Fundamental to his personal philosophy is the tenet that everyone should have the opportunity to succeed in life. He believes in extending to a disadvantaged student the scholarship that will enhance his or her life by ensuring that a child experiences the pride, fun and teamwork of playing on a sports team; or in seeing that inner city sixth graders have an outdoor, hands-on learning experience at science camp. Likewise, in his beloved Israel, The Moskowitz Foundation is ensuring that university students have housing, that cancer- stricken youth get their "dream trips", that synagogues are restored and built, and that basic healthcare is improved by a dialysis center and dental clinic.
Dr. Moskowitz and his wife Cherna recently celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary. They have been blessed with 8 children, 42 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchild.