Maria C. Ortega

BROWNSVILLE, TX. – Maria C. Ortega entered into eternal rest on Thursday, the 7th of December 2023 in the comfort of her Brownsville residence surrounded by her loving family. She was ninety-two years of age.

Maria was born in Brownsville, Texas on November 21, 1931, daughter of the late Rafael Rodriguez Cantu and Rafaela Calderon Cantu. She was a retired business owner and a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend. A devoted Christian, she as a parishoner of Immaculate Conception Cathedral and Price Road Church of Christ.

Preceding Maria in death was her loving and devoted husband of sixty-eight years, Victoriano Ortega; her daughter, Maria de Jesus Duran and her husband, Gilberto Duran; her grandson, Emmanuel Alvear; her parents, Rafael R. Cantu and Rafaela C. Cantu; her son-in-law, Delfino Flores; and her siblings, Rafael Cantu and Juanita Calderon.

Survivors include her daughters, Oralia Ortega Flores and her husband, Delfino Gonzalez Avalos, and Carmelita Ortega Alvear, and her husband, Eusebio Alvear; her son, Victor Castillo and his wife, Angela Castillo; her grandchildren Brenda Flores, Gilberto Duran, Lisa Murphy, Delfino Flores, Jr., Cindy Jimenez, Juanita Landeros, Eduardo Alvear, Elvia Alvear, and Elsa de los Santos; her fourteen great-grandchildren; and her siblings, Aurora Perez and Guadalupe Cantu.

Visiting hours will be held on Tuesday, the 12th of December 2023 between the hours of one o’clock in the afternoon and nine o'clock at night, with a prayer service to begin at seven o'clock Tuesday evening within the East Chapel of Darling-Mouser Funeral Home. 

The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at two o’clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, the 13th of December 2023 at the historic Immaculate Conception Cathedral, 1218 E. Jefferson Street, Brownsville. Interment will then follow, via an escorted procession, at Buena Vista Burial Park, 5 McDavitt Boulevard, Brownsville.

Honored to serve as her pallbearers will be Eusebio Alvear, Delfino Gonzalez, Victor Castillo, Gilberto Duran, Delfino Flores, Jr., Eduardo Alvear, and Victor Castillo, Jr.

Memories of Maria may be shared at www.darlingmouser.com.

Personalized funeral arrangements directed by Steven R. Hieu Bailey and Staff have been entrusted to the care of Darling-Mouser Funeral Home at 945 Palm Boulevard in Brownsville, Texas 78520, (956) 546-7111.