Idolina Cristela (Chela) Ortiz

June 19, 1931 – September 9, 2022

On Sept. 9, 2022, Idolina Cristela (Chela) Ortiz, 91, loving mother, grandmother and all-around amazing woman, passed away peacefully in her sleep in Moses Lake, Washington.

The oldest of six children, Chela was born on June 19, 1931, at Santa Rita Ranch, Texas to Santos Duarte and Manuela Garcia. The Great Depression was a difficult time for the family. She attended school to the eighth grade and dropped out to help her parents make ends meet. When she was 23, she met her future husband, Inocencio Ortiz, Jr. She married him on Jan. 2, 1955, and together they made their home in La Joya, Texas.

In 1965, the family moved to Warden, Washington. No stranger to hard work, she raised her children while working full time. She would tend to her family during the day and work at various potato plants at night. After years of working at Nestle in Othello, Washington, she retired in 1993.

Chela was a shy, kind and loving person. She always put others first, especially her family, her friends and her pets. She enjoyed spending time crocheting, doing ceramics, canning the garden vegetables and tending to her numerous plants and flowers. She was a very talented cook, seamstress and babysitter to her grandkids.

Chela is survived by her children Rafaela (Doug Mac Donald), Ino, Joel, Irasema Elizalde (Joe), Jorge (Debbie), Eli (Joy) and Gracie Melby (Doug). She is also survived by her grandchildren Stephen (Jackie), Sarah, Monica (Vince), Heather (Robert), Jennifer (CJ ), Joseph (Brandy), Amanda, Zachary, Nathaniel (Ali), Jared, Ben, Jessica (Jason), Luis, Estevan, Carlos, Josline, Jaidyn and Dylan and great-grandchildren Lucas, Jonathan, Makenna, Cody, Madelynn, Ava Jo, Nash, Derek, Hudson, and Wyatt. She is also survived by her sisters Maria Luisa Perales and Jane Dicken. She is preceded in death by her husband Inocencio, an infant daughter, her brothers Demetrio, Henry and John Duarte and her daughters-in-law Joetta Ortiz and Glenda Ortiz.

The family would like to send a special thank you to Daisy, Nagash, Joseph, and Michael from the Mekonen AFH for their loving care of Chela, especially over the last months.

A viewing will be held on Sept. 14, 2022 at Kayser’s Chapel of Memories in Moses Lake, Washington from 5 to 7 p.m. Funeral services will be held on Sept. 15, 2022, at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church in Warden, Washington with rosary starting at 10:30 a.m. followed by Mass at 11.

Please express your thoughts and memories at www.kayserschapel.com. Arrangements are under the care of Kayser’s Chapel of Memories of Moses Lake, Washington.