It was during the war that he met and married his wife Joan Orenstein, a noted Canadian actress;[1] he had five daughters: Jill, Edie, Ruth, Cia, and Sarah.
His youngest child, Sarah, is a Dora Award recipient for her portrayal of a sharp-tongued feminist filmmaker in Brad Fraser’s dark comedy, Cold Meat Party (2003).
After the war, Orenstein studied painting at the Art Students League of New York with Mary Stepnberg[2] before returning to Toronto to start his family with Joan.
Orenstein was a member of the International and Feather Workers (IFL) and had spent time working in the needle trades and fur industry.
The mural was 36 feet long and 41 inches high and intended to illustrate the common tensions such as jobs and the polluted landscape of Sudbury during the 1950s.