Juan Ortiz: In Memoriam

by Kaitlin | April 17, 2007 at 09:42 am

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If you knew Juan Ortiz, please add your thoughts as comments. We would very much appreciate it if you are interested in editing this story - especially if you knew Juan. Please contact me.

The following is from a blogger whose neighbour is Juan Ortiz's cousin:

Juan Ortiz was 26 years old, and a graduate student in the Engineering
Department at Virginia Tech where he was studying Civil Engineering,
focusing on Water Resources. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the San Juan Polytechnic University, and he carried with him the hopes and dreams of his family and his proud heritage.

Juan was recently married to Leslie Ortiz, who was also a student at Virginia Tech. They were planning on starting a family after they graduated.

Juan Ortiz was born in Puerto Rico. His father said this of his son (translated from Spanish):

If I begin to speak of him I do not finish, he was an extraordinary
son, which any father had wanted. The day of his wedding, I said a
silly thing to him that only I, being a father, can understand why I
said it, because I felt it in my heart. I thanked him for being my son.
He was special."