Joe Ortiz; Helped Create Area Trucking Firm

Longtime Ventura resident Joe Ortiz, who helped establish one of the county’s largest trucking companies, died Sunday. He was 80.

Ortiz was born Jan. 12, 1919, in Mesa, Ariz. His family came to Santa Paula to work in agriculture when he was an infant.

He served in the Army Air Corps as a medic from 1942 to 1946. He later returned to Ventura County and began work as a trucker with Barnes and Manning Trucking Co. In 1950, Ortiz left the trucking business to take over his brother-in-law’s gardening company.

In 1952, together with his brothers, Ortiz bought all five trucks from Barnes and Manning, forming Ortiz Bros. Trucking. Eventually, the company became a major transporter of citrus, and the brothers bought two citrus ranches.

Ortiz retired from daily duties with the company in 1987, after undergoing heart bypass surgery. His family said he still kept watch over his company, and enjoyed gardening at home and watching Dodger games.

“He had such a generous heart,” said his daughter, Annette. “You could never walk out of his house without Dad forcing food on you, whether it was oranges or avocados. He never wanted anyone to leave empty-handed.”

He was married for 54 years. His wife, Lupe, remembers him as a husband with a love of giving.

“In the mornings he would make coffee and bring it to me,” she said. “He would say, ‘Santa Paula beauty! Coffee time!’ He spoiled me with a lot of little things.”

One of Ortiz’s proudest days was buying the Santa Paula citrus ranches, which reminded him of the type of place his parents had once worked. In addition to his wife and daughter Annette, who live in Ventura, Ortiz is survived by brothers Leonard and Eddie of Santa Paula, John of Oxnard, Patrick, Manuel and Frank, all of Ventura; sister Jenny Lorenzana; son Gary Ortiz; daughters Arlene Avalos and Priscilla Stevenson; five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, all of Ventura.

He was preceded in death by his sisters, Antonia Casas and Sally Baca. A memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura, which is handling arrangements.