Timothy William Ortiz, 63,

Timothy William Ortiz, 63, of Huntingtown, Maryland passed away March 23, 2023 at his home with family by his side, after a 3 year battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He was born August 24, 1959 in Topeka, KS to William Edward and Carmen (Rivera) Ortiz. He was primarily raised in Westway, a neighborhood in Canutillo, TX, where he graduated Salutatorian from Canutillo High School in 1977. Tim married Rosa Nuñez in December of 1984 and they lived in California, Colorado, and New Mexico before moving to Maryland in 1996, eventually making Huntingtown their home in 2002. He started his career at the age of 19 with TRW in White Sands, NM as a Key Punch Operator. It was there that he developed a love for computers and computer science. He went on to have a very successful career working as a Senior Program Manager for Raytheon Technologies for 20 years. During his career he worked for NASA’s EOSDIS Evolution and Development and worked on 2 programs at Goddard Space Flight Center where he led teams that provided solutions for evolving earth science data access challenges. During this time Tim obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland University College in 2010. He later went to work for SAIC as the NASA SENSE Program Manager, retiring in April of 2020. In 2014 the Director of NASA awarded Tim two awards, the NASA Prime Contractor of the Year across all NASA Centers and the NASA Prime Contractor of the Year at Goddard Space Flight Center.

Tim was an active member of St. John Vianney Catholic Church where he served as CCD instructor, lector, and extraordinary minister. He was also an engineering mentor, solar system ambassador for NASA, and a Maryland Master Gardener. In his spare time he enjoyed cooking, grilling, reading, woodworking, crafting, making jewelry, and most recently spending time with his grandson.

Tim is survived by his loving wife Rosa Ortiz, children Carmen Ortiz, Amanda Ortiz, Olivia Ortiz (Tony Lehnen), and Gabriel Ortiz, grandson Anthony Lehnen, and brothers Thomas Ortiz and William Ortiz. He was preceded in death by his parents.

An additional Celebration of Life will be held in El Paso, Texas in August.