Sports Figure Harry Ornest Dies at 75

Harry Ornest, nationally known sports executive and vice chairman of Hollywood Park, died suddenly early Tuesday morning after a short illness. He was 75.

Ornest, a native of Edmonton, Canada, and a longtime resident of Beverly Hills, was best known in the world of professional hockey, where he was once an NHL referee.

After building family wealth through his vending machine business in western Canada, he went on to own professional teams in baseball (Vancouver of the old Pacific Coast League, 1977-’81), hockey (the St. Louis Blues of the NHL, 1983-’87) and football (the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian League, ‘88-91).

Ornest is survived by his wife of 46 years, Ruth; by sons Maury and Michael; daughters Cindy and Laura, and brother Leo.

Services will be held Thursday at 10 a.m. at Hillside Memorial Park in Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Harry Ornest Memorial Fund at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.