Stella Ortiz Kyle

Stella Ortiz Kyle, age 70, of San Antonio,TX passed away on January 31st at 5:58 AM at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio surrounded virtually in love by her immediate family, after a very short but fierce battle with COVID-19. Stella was predeceased by her father Manuel Ortiz, Jr. She is survived by her mother, Irene Ortiz, of San Antonio, her brother Manuel “Manny” Ortiz III (Sheri), two sons Peter Christopher “Chris” Kyle III (Lisa) of Washington DC, Dr. Joshua Todd Kyle (Diane) of Middletown, Delaware, her three grandchildren Noelle, Timothy, Peter Christopher Kyle, IV (Ford), her nephew Scott Ortiz (Rachael), her niece Patrice Bartlett (Wayne), and six great-nieces and nephews, Jax, Maleah, Austen, Errol, Etta, and Bron.

Stella was born on November 28, 1950 in San Antonio, TX. She attended Mount Sacred Heart Catholic School and Incarnate Word High School. Notable career highlights include a Bachelors (‘72) and Masters (‘73) in Psychology from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from the University of Texas (‘81). As Dr. Kyle, she worked at the Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital counseling Vietnam veterans. After several years, she decided to attend law school at St. Mary’s University (‘87). She managed to obtain her law degree while simultaneously raising two young toddlers. She worked as an attorney for the City of San Antonio before being appointed the first female Presiding Judge of the San Antonio Municipal Court.

Despite her busy schedule, she took pride in sitting on the Boards of the San Antonio Crime Council and the San Antonio Chapter of the Red Cross. She was also an active member of the Democratic party. She served as a member of the Texas Judicial Council from 1997 to 1999 as the only Municipal Court representative at that time. Stella also had a family law practice during the final years of her career and was active with the San Antonio Bar Association. She accomplished all of this as a single mom to her two beloved sons. They were the light of her life. In her free time, she particularly enjoyed ski trips with the Los Amigos Ski Club, faithfully reading the San Antonio Express-News and her “trashy thriller novels," and traveling to new places.

A funeral mass and memorial service will be held virtually on February 22nd (it was rescheduled from the 15th due to weather and power outages) at 4 PM CST. Please contact Chris Kyle at [email protected] if you would like to attend.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations in Stella’s memory to the St. Mary’s Law School Annual Scholarship Fund. https://law.alumni.stmarytx.edu/giving/give-now/