Gloria Ann Ortiz

Zoom Information

Meeting ID: 824 0036 2165
Passcode: 316012

Gloria Ann Ortiz transcended this life on April 16, 2021 at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Fort Belvoir, VA.

She leaves to cherish her memory her husband of 39 years, Santiago Ortiz Jr., five children, Shepell Jaca (Emilio Jaca) of East Haven, CT, Santiago Ortiz III (Jaquita Ortiz) of Manassas, VA, Seaniqua Holman of Springfield, VA, Chiquita Jones (Jason Jones) of Alexandria, VA and Tiffany Ortiz (Wilfredo Mendez) of Brooklyn, NY; nine siblings Wanda Hamlin (Harvey Hamlin), David Clark Jr. (Stacy Clark), Sherion Clark preceded in death, Sandra Johnson (Rufus Johnson), Ronald Clark, Tyrone Clark, Lisa Clark Barkley (Jeffrey Barkley preceded in death), Michael Clark (Ieshia Clark), Christopher Clark (Toshia Clark) and bonus mother Louvenia Clark. She is also survived and loved by her favorite people in the world, her 15 grandchildren; Taylor Ellis, Yorel Moore, Santiago Ortiz IV, Emilo Jaca, Tayson Ortiz, Julian Jaca, Xiomara Moore, Justice Ortiz, Dasun Ortiz, Natalia Jones, Zaina Jaca Ortiz, Gloria (Sana’a) Holman, Kendrick Jones, Pharaoh Jaca Ortiz and Zyon Moore (preceded in death). Additional loved ones who will also mourn her passing include her goddaughter Jacquelina Rosa, loving nieces, nephews, sister-in-laws, brother-in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins and an endless number of friends.

Gloria Ann Ortiz (Clark) was the third surviving child born to the late David Ellis Clark and Betty Mae Clark (Ford) in Richmond, Virginia on May 21, 1960. Gloria, known as Ann to most of her family, grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended Frederick Douglass High School. She married Santiago Ortiz Jr. on July 2, 1982 and embarked on an adventurous life of travel, residing nationwide and abroad with her husband and five children as an Army wife. Although she loved her roles as a wife, mother and grandmother and was those definitions personified, those that know her understand that she was much more. She was an entrepreneur, running a childcare center out of her home for the past 18 years. A life long learner, she took courses at the University of Maryland and enrolled in continuing education courses to sharpen her skills as an early education provider. An all around creative she enjoyed reading, sewing and devoting her time to her beloved grandchildren.

She led with compassion and empathy. In the most challenging moments she preferred to look for the best in people even when others could not. In a world filled with frustration and heartache she was the most patient of people intuitively knowing when to help and how. If you needed a place to stay or food in your stomach she opened her home to you. She was the embodiment of selfless commitment to others. Her beauty and grace eclipse any comprehensible words that exist; she left a legacy of compassion that has stretched far beyond her family. She centered her life around those that she loved and was the glue that held us together through the years. A nurturer at the core she was everyone’s everything and she will be tremendously missed.