Rev. Peter Juan Ortiz

On Tuesday, April 14, 2015, God lovingly extended His hand and called His faithful servant, the Reverend Peter Juan Ortiz, to his eternal home. Peter was born on May 14, 1930, in Buffalo, New York, but grew up in Ransomville, N.Y. He was the first born child of the late Pedro and Doris Ortiz. He grew up observing his father who was a farmer, an entrepreneur and a minister. His father often sent money to Puerto Rico to build churches. This guided him in his love for Jesus and people.

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Peter was a 1952 graduate of Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York, a free Methodist College that had chapel service every day and Spirit-filled revivals. He also attended Montclair State University, Columbia University, and Bowie State University. In 1957, he worked as a manager for a Puerto Rican Migrant Labor Camp and became fluent in Spanish. In 1959, there was a need for someone to start a mission church in Patterson, New Jersey. He heard God speak to him and say, ‘Why can’t you go?’ As a result, in 1960, he moved there with no job and no definite place to live. Later on, he established the Spanish Church of the Nazarene in Passaic, New Jersey.

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He was active in both prison and hospital ministries and served 15 years as the chaplain of the Lisner-Louise-Dickson-Hurt Home, an assistant living and nursing home facility in Chevy Chase, D.C. When his health began to fail, he became a resident of this beautiful facility for the last several weeks of his life. God always knows how to direct our path. Bilingual, he served as an associate Hispanic Chaplain at the D.C. Central Detention Facility and the Correctional Treatment Facility. He also assisted the Reverend Patricia Berry at Zion Wesley United Methodist Church in Waldorf, Maryland. Prior to its closing, he served as associate Hispanic Chaplain at the Central Facility in Lorton, Virginia and as an associate chaplain at D.C. General Hospital.

Peter loved Grace United Methodist Church and held many positions, including overseeing the Prison Ministry and the former chair of the Administrative Broad. He had a heart for his ministries and an ear for strangers, while epitomizing transformational leadership. While battling cancer in 2000, he continued to minister and led many people and inmates to Christ. He once said that the most significant blessing is seeing many incarcerated men come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Many inmates have been released and continue to serve God in various Central and South American Countries. As an anointed preacher and biblical scholar, he found joy in providing them with Spanish Bibles and other Christian materials in order to enhance their spiritual growth. He prepared the inmates so well that when they transferred to other Federal prisons, they were able to conduct Bible study classes for other inmates.

Peter loved traveling and visiting family and friends with his wife, Vivian. He also enjoyed reading, gardening, playing on his computer, listening to classical music and various ministers on the radio in the middle of the night.

A former teacher, mentor, counselor and community organizer, Peter served on many boards and received numerous awards, two of which were the Mayor’s Award for Chaplain of the Year and the James Floyd Jenkins Pillar of Faith Award from Howard University. His encouragement to others was genuine and a true source of quiet strength.

In addition to his parents, he was also preceded in death by his twin siblings, Mary Frances and Douglas. He leaves to cherish his loving memory: his devoted wife, Vivian; three children through marriage, Kim, Johnetta (Melvin) and John; five grandchildren, Ashley, Johnathan, Elizabeth, Victoria, Joshua; two great grandchildren, Kali and Jayce; two brothers, Edward (Betty) and Ricardo (Janice); one brother-in-law, Harold (Ada); one sister-in-law, Mary; a host of nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.

“…For Christ’s Love Compels Me…”

!! Corinthians 5:14-15