Founder of the Ortega Chile Packaging Company in 1899, which remains in business to this day as the Ortega Brand of food products. The son of Emigdio and Maria Concepcion Dominguez de Ortega of Ventura, California, he was educated in Santa Barbara and San Francisco, and upon his return to Ventura he opened a grocery store. After four years, he sold the business and took a series of jobs in Bakersfield and San Diego, ending up in New Mexico in 1890. He returned to Ventura in 1899, and began his chili canning business, first known as the Pioneer Green Chile Company. He changed the name to the E. C. Ortega Company when he moved the operation to Los Angeles in 1903, and he led the business until retiring in 1930. Husband of Mary Magdalena Bustamante Ortega, and father of two daughters. Some records show his middle name was Cyrus. From his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, Feb. 21, 1942:
"E. C. Ortega Taken by Death:
Descendant of Old California Family Passes at 84 Years:
Requiem Mass will be offered today at 10 a.m. at St. Mathias Church, Huntington Park, for E. C. Ortega, 84, descendant of one of California's historic families, who died Thursday at his home in Huntington Park, after an illness of four months. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery. Son of Emilio and Concepcion Ortega, Ortega was born in Ventura on August 8, 1857. He came to Los Angeles in 1903 and established the first cannery of Mexican chilis and pimentos, known as the E. C. Ortega Co. He retired from business 12 years ago. Ortega's ancestors figured prominently in the discoveries and wars of early Spanish California. His great-grandfather, Lieut. Juan Jose Ortega was with Dom Gaspar de Portola, after whom a street in Los Angeles is named, when their party discovered San Francisco Bay. Other ancestors, from both the Ortega and Dominguez families, distinguished themselves in the early Indian wars and the revolt of California provinces against Spain in 1826. Ortega leaves his widow, Mrs. Mary M. Ortega, and two daughters, Emily, 14, and Evelyn, 12."
"E. C. Ortega Taken by Death:
Descendant of Old California Family Passes at 84 Years:
Requiem Mass will be offered today at 10 a.m. at St. Mathias Church, Huntington Park, for E. C. Ortega, 84, descendant of one of California's historic families, who died Thursday at his home in Huntington Park, after an illness of four months. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery. Son of Emilio and Concepcion Ortega, Ortega was born in Ventura on August 8, 1857. He came to Los Angeles in 1903 and established the first cannery of Mexican chilis and pimentos, known as the E. C. Ortega Co. He retired from business 12 years ago. Ortega's ancestors figured prominently in the discoveries and wars of early Spanish California. His great-grandfather, Lieut. Juan Jose Ortega was with Dom Gaspar de Portola, after whom a street in Los Angeles is named, when their party discovered San Francisco Bay. Other ancestors, from both the Ortega and Dominguez families, distinguished themselves in the early Indian wars and the revolt of California provinces against Spain in 1826. Ortega leaves his widow, Mrs. Mary M. Ortega, and two daughters, Emily, 14, and Evelyn, 12."
Founder of the Ortega Chile Packaging Company in 1899, which remains in business to this day as the Ortega Brand of food products. The son of Emigdio and Maria Concepcion Dominguez de Ortega of Ventura, California, he was educated in Santa Barbara and San Francisco, and upon his return to Ventura he opened a grocery store. After four years, he sold the business and took a series of jobs in Bakersfield and San Diego, ending up in New Mexico in 1890. He returned to Ventura in 1899, and began his chili canning business, first known as the Pioneer Green Chile Company. He changed the name to the E. C. Ortega Company when he moved the operation to Los Angeles in 1903, and he led the business until retiring in 1930. Husband of Mary Magdalena Bustamante Ortega, and father of two daughters. Some records show his middle name was Cyrus. From his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, Feb. 21, 1942:
"E. C. Ortega Taken by Death:
Descendant of Old California Family Passes at 84 Years:
Requiem Mass will be offered today at 10 a.m. at St. Mathias Church, Huntington Park, for E. C. Ortega, 84, descendant of one of California's historic families, who died Thursday at his home in Huntington Park, after an illness of four months. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery. Son of Emilio and Concepcion Ortega, Ortega was born in Ventura on August 8, 1857. He came to Los Angeles in 1903 and established the first cannery of Mexican chilis and pimentos, known as the E. C. Ortega Co. He retired from business 12 years ago. Ortega's ancestors figured prominently in the discoveries and wars of early Spanish California. His great-grandfather, Lieut. Juan Jose Ortega was with Dom Gaspar de Portola, after whom a street in Los Angeles is named, when their party discovered San Francisco Bay. Other ancestors, from both the Ortega and Dominguez families, distinguished themselves in the early Indian wars and the revolt of California provinces against Spain in 1826. Ortega leaves his widow, Mrs. Mary M. Ortega, and two daughters, Emily, 14, and Evelyn, 12."
"E. C. Ortega Taken by Death:
Descendant of Old California Family Passes at 84 Years:
Requiem Mass will be offered today at 10 a.m. at St. Mathias Church, Huntington Park, for E. C. Ortega, 84, descendant of one of California's historic families, who died Thursday at his home in Huntington Park, after an illness of four months. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery. Son of Emilio and Concepcion Ortega, Ortega was born in Ventura on August 8, 1857. He came to Los Angeles in 1903 and established the first cannery of Mexican chilis and pimentos, known as the E. C. Ortega Co. He retired from business 12 years ago. Ortega's ancestors figured prominently in the discoveries and wars of early Spanish California. His great-grandfather, Lieut. Juan Jose Ortega was with Dom Gaspar de Portola, after whom a street in Los Angeles is named, when their party discovered San Francisco Bay. Other ancestors, from both the Ortega and Dominguez families, distinguished themselves in the early Indian wars and the revolt of California provinces against Spain in 1826. Ortega leaves his widow, Mrs. Mary M. Ortega, and two daughters, Emily, 14, and Evelyn, 12."
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