Francis Vincent Ortiz Jr. (March 14, 1926 – February 27, 2005) was an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Argentina from 1983 to 1986,The American Presidency Project
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United States Ambassador to Peru The following is a list of United States ambassadors, or other chiefs of mission, to Peru. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.'' Notes S ...

from 1981 to 1983,

United States Ambassador to Guatemala The following is a list of ambassadors of the United States, or other chiefs of mission, to Guatemala. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.'' See ...

from 1979 to 1980 and

Ambassador of the United States Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the country's diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. ...

to Barbados, and

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

as well as Special Representative to

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

, St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, and

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

from 1977 to 1979.U.S. Department of State, Barbados
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Biography

Ambassador Ortiz was born on March 14, 1926, to Frank Valencia Ortiz y Barbero (1896–1992) and Margaret Mary Delgado y Garcia de Noriega (1900–1993) in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

, where his family has lived since the 17th century. Both his parents were Democratic politicians. He had one younger sister and one younger brother. He graduated from Santa Fe High School. At age 17, he went to Washington, D.C., to work as an aide in the United States Senate. In 1945, he joined the United States Air Force and fought in World War II. He received a B.S. from Georgetown University in 1950, and an M.S. from George Washington University in 1957. He also attended the University of Madrid in 1950, the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

in 1952, and the

National War College The National War College (NWC) of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National War Colle ...

in 1956-1957. During his time at Georgetown, his

roommate A roommate is a person with whom one shares a living facility such as a room or dormitory ''except'' when being family or romantically involved. Similar terms include dormmate, suitemate, housemate, or flatmate ("flat": the usual term in Britis ...

was Ismael Moreno Pino, who later served as Deputy Foreign Minister and Ambassador of Mexico, representing his country in Germany, the Netherlands, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, the OAS in Washington, D.C., and the UN in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and Geneva, Switzerland; the two later coincided again as heads of mission in Lima. Ortiz married Dolores Duke, with whom he had four children. Frank Ortiz died in Santa Fe on February 27, 2005, at the age of 78. Dolores Ortiz died in Santa Fe on December 27, 2013, at the age of 88.

Career

From 1951 to 1953, he worked in the United States Department of State on issues pertaining to Egypt and

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. From 1953 to 1955, he was an economic officer in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and a political officer in Mexico City from 1955 to 1957. From 1957 to 1961, he worked as an assistant in the Department of State. From 1967 to 1970, he worked as a political counsellor in Lima, Peru, and as Deputy Chief of Mission in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay from 1970 to 1973. From 1973 to 1975 he worked in the State Department with regards to Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, and became Deputy Executive Secretary from 1975 to 1977. From 1977 to 1979, he was Ambassador to Barbados and

, and Special Representative to

and

. He was Ambassador to Guatemala from 1979 to 1980. Then he was appointed Political Advisor to Southern Hemispheric Military Command in Panama. From 1981 to 1983, he was Ambassador to Peru. He was then Ambassador to Argentina from 1983 to 1986. During the late 1980s he taught at the University of New Mexico. In 1990, he retired to Santa Fe and became very involved in preserving Spanish New Mexican culture and history at the

New Mexico History Museum The New Mexico History Museum is a history museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is part of the state-run Museum of New Mexico system operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. Opened in 2009, the museum houses of permanent and rotat ...

, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Las Golondrinas and elsewhere.

Works

References