Joseph Ortega

September 24, 2017
Joseph Ortega

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JOSEPH ORLANDO ORTEGA, 74

CALCUTTA – Joe Ortega, 74, of Calcutta passed away on Sunday, September 24, 2017 as the result of an ischemic stroke.
He was born in Mora, New Mexico in 1943 in an adobe house that still stands. Joe remembers with fondness the Catholic church in the middle of the adobe community, and the Catholic school where he attended his first years of schooling. Life was a little rough on Joe, and he got no more formal education than the 6th grade.
In his adult life, he was able to overcome nearly insurmountable odds and lead a life that was helpful to many other recovering persons both within and outside of the AA community. At his death he had 30 years of sobriety. A kinder and gentler man would be difficult to find.
Joe was a wood artist and an avid reader of metaphysical philosophy. His dremeled woodwork on cabinets, tables, chairs, and other furniture will be remembered by many in the East Liverpool area. He worked and sold some of his beautiful wood work out of Manitou Studios in East Liverpool when he first came to town approximately 8 years ago. A plaque done by Joe memorializing Joan Witt can be seen in the downstairs lobby of E. Liverpool Hospital next to the elevators.
He loved Ohio in the spring, he loved Ohio in the summer, he loved Ohio in the fall, and he loved Florida in the wintertime.
Surviving Joe is his life partner of 35 years, Barbara Ortega, and his beloved cairn terriers, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Kanooch’.


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  • September 26, 2017
    Donna & Bill Gray says:
    Joe, We loved your smiles and your hugs! You will be missed in East Liverpool.

  • September 27, 2017
    Pat Rasbach says:
    Joe was a wonderful person with a big heart, he will be greatly missed.

  • October 01, 2017
    Margaret Ferko says:
    Dear cousin Orlando(Joe Ortega). May you rest in peace.We will miss you and will light a special candle for you.Your cousins, Marcia Ortega, Margaret Ferko, Rita Antonioli.Love and miss you.

  • October 02, 2017
    Barb Ortega AKA Manitou says:
    My Joe - my life partner. What a gentle man you were, and the most easy going person to live with. I look forward to that picnic that you're preparing for us; you know the place - the oak tree next to the bend of the stream. And the Kanooches miss you so much

  • December 31, 2019
    Barb says:
    Well, it's been over 2 years now, my beloved. I see you every day in the profile of the mountains as I look to the west from my house. The Kanooches still look for you in golf carts. You are a huge presence in my heart, and will be until the day I die. It doesn't hurt as much now. The large hole has been mended and I no longer spend all my days crying. I am loving life in the desert, and I wish you were here. You would love it. I love you, my littlest bug