Ruben O. Montoya

Ruben Ortiz Montoya was born in Santa Fe on February 6th, 1923 and passed away in his sleep on June 15th, 2019 at the age of 96.

He is preceded in death by his mother Dolores Ortiz Kozlowski, his uncles; Lee Smith and Adeliado Ortiz and grandmother; Carlota Marquez Ortiz. Coincidently, one of his best friends growing up and his best man for his wedding, preceded him in death on the same day (June 15) 15 years ago. His name was Bill Thiebaut. He is preceded in death by beloved uncles, aunts, cousins and lifelong friends.

He is survived by his wife of 73 years Nora F. Montoya, his brother; Max Montoya (Helen), his 3 daughters; Dorinda M Fredrick (Dale), Linda L Montoya (Catherine) and Theresa Nathan (Mark). 6 grandchildren; Shawn T. Fredrick (Jayne), Richard D Fredrick, Marcos R Fredrick, Tanya F Danko, Seria Gonzales Millay (Adam), Briea Nathan. 9 great-grandchildren; Cody Fredrick, Connor Fredrick, Tait Fredrick, Macie Fredrick, Otto Fredrick, Cole Fredrick, Owen Fredrick, Dominic Danko and Drake Danko. He is also survived by beloved cousins, nieces, nephews and longtime friends.

Ruben was born in the same home as his mother, on Jefferson St. near the train tracks in Santa Fe. His father Max Montoya divorced his mother and left before Ruben was one. His two uncles, Lee and Adeliado became father figures helping raise him with his mother. At a young age he apprenticed in his uncle Lee’s book binding shop. While working there, his uncle taught him English to help prepare him for school at Catron Elementary. Being bi-lingual allowed him converse with his classmates that spoke mostly Spanish, but it also got him in trouble for calling out the teachers for not knowing Spanish! This earned him a transfer to a different school. As a youth growing up he would often hang out with a group of kids he would call the “River Rats”. They would hitch rides on the trains out to play in the Rio Grande 15-miles out of town. If they missed the train back to town, they would have a 4 hour walk back to town.

In 1940 at the age of 17 Ruben enlisted for WWII in the US Army. He had to get his mother’s permission to join early. His service took him to Normandy, France shortly after the D-Day invasion in July of 1944. In October of 1944, he was severely injured in Liege, Belgium suffering a concussion and serious internal injuries. He was evacuated to army hospitals in Paris and Bristol before being sent home state side during Christmas time on the Queen Mary. For his service he was awarded 3 Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star for bravery.  

December 16th, 1945, he married Nora Martinez from Chimayo. Nora’s great-great-grandfather, Manuel Abeyta, was responsible for building the Santuario de Chimayó. At this time he worked testing soil for the New Mexico Highway Department. He later became a layout engineer for McKee Contractors at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Having top-security clearance from the military he was able to work as a senior technician of metallurgy for the University of California at Los Alamos.

He retired in 1973 at the age of 50 to pursue his passion for wood carving and art projects. For nearly half a century, from that retirement day until his last he was creating some form of art. He is well known for carving santos. He has created furniture, pottery and paintings. In the 80’s and 90’s he would travel selling at art shows across New Mexico, he even has some of his artwork in international exhibits. At one point Ruben owned a gallery in Santa Fe.

In addition to his passion for art he devoted time and energy to the local 372 Chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart: Santa Fe. His experiences during WWII followed him the rest of his life. He worked with many veterans to get them the help that they needed and deserved.

Ruben was our husband, our father, our grandfather, our great-grandfather, our mentor in sharing his talent in woodcarving and other arts. We all have our own special memories with him that we will keep in our hearts the rest of our lives and share whenever we can, this way he will live on in our memories. Above all else, he loved us and we loved him and will miss him dearly.   

The Rosary & Memorial is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Tuesday, June 25th at Rivera Family Funeral home, 417 East Rodeo Rd., Santa Fe, NM.

The mass will be held at 11:00 am on Wednesday, June 26th at St. Anne Parish, 511 Alicia St. Santa Fe, NM.

The interment is scheduled for 12:45 PM on Wednesday, June 26, 2019 with full military honors, at the National Cemetery located at 501 N Guadalupe St, Santa Fe, NM.

The reception will be held at St. Anne Parish Hall following the internment from 2:00 - 5:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for donations to be made to Gary Sinise Foundation for wounded veterans in Ruben’s memory. Information can be found at the following website, https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/donate