Bertha Ortega

Bertha “Louise” Ortega, 76, of San Antonio, Texas, passed away in the early hours on Monday, April 12, 2021.

Louise (as she liked to go by) was born in Doniphan, Missouri on February 18, 1945. During her childhood she moved with her family through various states (Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado), eventually landing in Durango, Colorado until she was about 12, then moving onto Del Norte, Colorado until she became of age.

Some of Louise’s fondest memories was her childhood fun (playing JAX – “it was her thing”, roller skating on those old metal skates, and playing street games like hide-and-seek and Red Rover). A notable moment in her youth was when she threw a soup can at her brother (Truman), hit him in the head leaving a scar all because he would not stop flicking water in her face – that always made her chuckle. One other thing she truly enjoyed (always) was a nice cold glass of milk (probably because back in those early days if you wanted milk, it was can milk mixed with water). However, her real refuge was going to the library – she loved READING and history – not only as a child, but throughout her lifetime as well.

As an adult Louise liked keeping up on sports (mostly basketball and football) and working cross-word puzzles. But her real joy was her two daughters – Lisa & Sherrie. She loved her daughters more than anything and was extremely proud of them.

Louise was a hard worker, worked every day from the time she was a sophomore in high-school (1960) until she retired (2011). During her retirement she kept on reading, working cross-word puzzles, and drinking milk. In the last few years of her life, she traveled more than she had during her life – moving to San Antonio, visiting family, going to Las Vegas and various cities in Texas. Unfortunately, she also had to battle ovarian cancer where she briefly overcame it.

Louise had a philosophy, “ remember, people no matter who they are, they can be cruel, but you can rise above it and be a better person. Treat people with dignity and respect”.

Louise is proceeded in death by her love David Coco; her parents, Everette & Ruth Jones; her siblings, Bill Jones, Mary Traylor, and Truman Jones, and her son-in-law Joe Cordova.

Louise is survived by her two daughters Felicia Cordova and Sherrie Ortega (Antonio Rivota); her four grandchildren Ashley Southard (Jj Southard), Michaela Aoyama, Anastasia Manzanares (Joshua De Santiago), John “RJ” Manzanares (Angie Romero); her 8 (going on 9) great-grandchildren Jesslyn Molina, Erica Molina, Alyssa Aoyama, Mykah Manzanares, Jaylynn Aoyama, Alyanah De Santiago, Hoshea De Santiago, Charlett De Santiago, and soon to be John Eliseo Manzanares.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the San Antonio chapter of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition: https://events.ovarian.org/nocc/Donate?rbref=odb

Thank you to Dr. James Wilder and RN Michelle Davidson for making this unpleasant bout with cancer more bearable. Also, much gratitude to RN Teresa (express testing - labs), all the 5 East oncology Nurses and CNA’s at North Central Baptist Hospital (NCBH) who took excellent care of mom during her multiple visits. In addition, thank you to the NCBH ICU Dr. Rodriguez, RN Olivia and especially RN Chris for your deep concern and gentleness during mom’s final moments.

A Memorial Service will be held in Durango, Colorado at a later date.

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