Maria Ortiz

Maria Tamez Ortiz was born on April 4, 1937 to Juana Villareal and Primitivo Tamez at Butler Brickyard outside of Elgin, Texas.  She passed away surrounded by family at the home of her oldest daughter on Monday, September 7, 2020.

Maria grew up at Butler Brickyard the youngest of five children.  In 1951, she was crowned Queen of the annual Dia Diez y Seis celebration at the LDC park in Elgin.  That year, she met Pascual Ortiz from Martindale who had come to Elgin to work on a cotton farm.  They were married on
November 27, 1951 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.  She spent almost her entire life in Elgin as a homemaker and mother to her eight children.

Maria was a wonderful cook.  Her family loved anything she made, but favorites were her enchiladas and tamales.  She was an avid sports fan and especially loved to watch the Dallas Cowboys and boxing.  She was a good story teller and would remark that the story would have sounded better in Spanish.  Having coffee and visiting with friends or her sister Juanina was also a favorite pastime.

Maria was a strong person who endured the deaths of her daughter Rosa,  her brother Sandino Tamez and her husband all in sixteen months, leaving her with five children still at home to raise alone.  Maria was also preceded in death by her parents, her sister Juana Nunez and her brothers and their wives, Oralia and Maximiliano Tamez, Socorro and Luis Tamez.

She is survived by her children:  Christina Ramos (Danny), Maria Garcia,  Raquel Medrano (Johnny), Gerardo Ortiz, Pascual Ortiz Jr. (Tracy), Jose Ortiz, and Josefa Garcia (Manuel).  She was known Grandma to 20 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren, and 1 great great grandson.

Her grandsons Daniel Ramos, Joey Ramos, Cristian Ortiz, Gabriel Ramos, Nicholas Ramos and Josh Tobar will serve as her pall bearers.

Maria's casket will lie In-State Sunday, September 13th at the Elgin Funeral Home from 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM.  A Celebration of Christian Burial Mass will be held Monday, September 14th at Sacred Heart Catholic Church at 11:00 AM with Father George presiding.  A Christian Burial will follow at the Elgin Latin Cemetery.