David Ortiz, 79, beaten by police, walked 400 miles on "Minimum Wage March" for farm workers
Hoodoo
By CAROL CHRISTIAN
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
June 19, 2010, 9:24PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7062333.html
http://www.chron.com/photos/2010/06/16/22149001/260xStory.jpg
David Ortiz participated in the "Minimum Wage March."
In the summer of 1966, David Ortiz of Houston walked 400 miles from the
Rio Grande Valley to the state Capitol on the "Minimum Wage March" for
farm workers, despite a beating by police before the march began.
His refusal to give up marked Ortiz's life of community service,
political activism and struggle for justice, family and friends said.
Ortiz died June 10 at Triumph Hospital North Houston. He was 79 and had
suffered a stroke in late May, his son, Daniel Ortiz Sr., said.
"He always wanted to help the underdog," Ortiz said of his father, who
met and was inspired by California activist Cesar Chavez.
"If my dad was broke, he would still find a way to help someone out,"
Ortiz said. "I saw him do it. He sacrificed a lot."
Born July 21, 1930, in Houston's Sixth Ward near downtown, David Ortiz
attended Dow Elementary School and graduated from the former San Jacinto
High School.
In about 1950, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the Korean
War, where he was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
"He wanted to volunteer," said his wife of 55 years, Dalila Ortiz. "His
older brothers both served in World War II."
'He led the way'
Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia said Ortiz was part of
America's "Greatest Generation."
"David Ortiz served his country and fought overseas to return home to
fight for equality for the Hispanic community he loved so much," Garcia
said by e-mail. "He led the way by participating in the process at
virtually every level — from advocate to precinct judge to veterans'
associations."
After his military service, Ortiz came home to Houston, got married and
found work as a printer, which became his lifelong career.
In 1958, he helped form the Civic Action Committee to support State Sen.
Henry B. Gonzalez's unsuccessful campaign for governor.
That committee became the Harris County chapter of PASO, the Political
Association of Spanish-speaking Organizations, in which Ortiz was a
charter member.
Ortiz was at the Rice Hotel on Nov. 21, 1963, when President John
Kennedy made an appearance at a League of United Latin American Citizens
(LULAC) function the night before he was assassinated in Dallas.
Fifteen years later, Ortiz was among a group of local Hispanics selected
to meet with President Jimmy Carter at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Longtime LULAC activist Johnny Mata said Ortiz was a trailblazer with a
contagious smile.
Busy in community
In 1971, Ortiz made an unsuccessful bid for the Texas House. He went on
to serve 35 years as an election judge for his North Side precinct.
Ortiz was also active with Junior LULAC, La Raza Unida, Mexican American
Democrats, G.I. Forum, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American
Veterans, the Salvation Army and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Between the start of his VA volunteer service in 1990 and his last visit
a few weeks before his death, Ortiz logged close to 12,000 volunteer
hours, the equivalent of almost six years full-time service, said Bryan
Dyck, volunteer program manager.
In earlier years at the VA, Ortiz devoted many hours to planning and
executing annual "stand downs," in which the VA set up a tent downtown
to reach homeless veterans.
More recently, Dyck said, Ortiz visited patients in their hospital rooms.
"He was one of those you consider very dedicated," Dyck said. " He will
be sorely missed."
Other survivors include sons David M. and Dale Ortiz, of Houston;
brothers Romeo Matta, Bartlesville, Okla., and Ernest Ortiz, San
Antonio; and sisters Marie Mendez, Humble; Minerva Garza, Canyon Lake;
and Jane Cordova and Naomi Garza, Houston.
Services were held on Tuesday.
--
Trout Mask Replica
KFJC.org, WFMU.org, WMSE.org, or WUSB.org;
because the pigoenholed programming of music channels
on Sirius Satellite, and its internet radio player, suck
islanders
BobF
Previously on alt.obituaries (Sun, 20 Jun 2010 01:46:30 -0500 to be
exact), Hoodoo <ver...@objectmail.com> wrote thusly:
>Ortiz, decorated veteran, activist, fought for justice
Hell ... for a minute there I thought the police had beaten a 79 year
old man to death after he'd walked 400 miles ...
********
BTW, are both your 'shift' keys (and/or 'caps lock' key) broken?
>as this is an extremely informal setting i refrain from using
>uppercase unless necessary.
>that is second of your personal questions i have opted to answer but
>you have not answered mine:
>what do you do?
I post regularly on various ng's.
- From "The Sayings of Roy"
David Carson
>
> I post regularly on various ng's.
>
> - From "The Sayings of Roy"
This is still my favorite one.
MWB
"islanders" <islan...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:a75db71d-ddf1-4e4b...@h13g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
> Fuck, wrong David Ortiz.
>
HEY ASSHOLE....2 game in the lost column.
GO LADY GAGA
Mark
BobF
Previously on alt.obituaries (Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:37:23 -0500 to be
exact), David Carson <da...@neosoft.com> wrote thusly:
My favourite is:
Subject: Re: Missing Couple Found in Septic Tank
> This has to be about money, were they an effluent couple?
Who cares how fast they talked?
But this is a close second:
Murder is different than any other crime.
********
"There are hundreds of millions of people using Usenet around the world.
Just because YOU don't know their names doesn't mean they don't use it."