Charlie Cortinas

Charlie Cortinas, age 74, passed away September 29, 2022 in San Antonio, TX, after a brief illness. He was born in San Antonio, TX on June 14, 1948, to Ysabel and Maria Luisa Cortinas. He was a proud U.S. Navy veteran, retired San Antonio police officer, and a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend who will be dearly missed.

Charlie grew up on the west side of San Antonio and graduated from Fox Tech High School in 1966. Like many of his generation, Charlie heard the call of service to his community and after graduation, he joined the U.S. Navy serving on the USS Tattnall. After departing the Navy, Charlie joined the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), Class of 1972-D, and served as a patrol officer. This is when he met the love of his life, Elsa Rosa Flores, while she worked as a security officer at Robert B. Green Hospital. They were married in 1977 and eventually grew to be a happy family of five.

By the early 1980s, he began to work as an Executive Protection Officer for the Office of the Mayor. He proudly protected San Antonio Mayors Lila Cockrell, Henry G. Cisneros, and Nelson Wolff. He loved working at City Hall and getting to know everyone who worked or visited there, from political officials to interns. He retired from the SAPD in April 1994 with 21 years of service.

In 1994, he began the next phase of his career as a political appointee in the Clinton Administration as a Special Deputy U.S. Marshall doing advance work for the Secretary of Housing & Urban Development Henry Cisneros in Washington, DC. He loved traveling to set up security and advance for the Secretary’s events and he knew just about everyone in the HUD Headquarters building. After Secretary Cisneros left HUD in 1997, Charlie stayed and served in a similar capacity for HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo.

Charlie left the federal government in 2001 and began to work for his church, Calvary Road Baptist, in Springfield, Virginia. After the unpredictable hours of working as a political appointee, he enjoyed the more normal time spent with his family. In 2005, he and Elsa returned home to San Antonio to be closer to extended family. Charlie obtained his real estate license in 2006 and began to work with Century 21. He enjoyed meeting new people and helping them find a place to live.

During the pandemic, he “officially retired” and spent his days with his family and getting to know his neighbors. Everyone described Charlie as a people person who loved meeting new people and who knew someone wherever he went. He treated everyone with kindness, humor, and respect. He leaves a legacy with his children and grandchildren to always appreciate, love, and support your family and to always end your phone call with “I love you.”

Charlie was preceded in death by his parents, his infant son Charlie Cortinas, Jr., and his sister, Dora Fernandez. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Elsa Rosa Cortinas; daughter Cindy Uviedo (Joe); son Charlie Cortinas III (Shaina); and son Jacob Cortinas (Nichole); and grandchildren, Josh, Tessa, Sebastian, Gabriel, and Kolten; sister, Mary Lou (Armando) Rodriguez; brother Joe (Brenda) Cortinas; and many more extended family members and friends.

All funeral services will be held at Sunset Funeral Home, 1701 Austin Hwy, San Antonio, TX 78218.

(A link will be provided to view the service online.)

The visitation will be 6-8:00 pm, Wednesday, October 12, 2022, in the chapel. The Funeral Service will be at 9:00 am, Thursday, October 13, 2022, in the chapel.

Interment will follow at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, 1520 Harry Wurzbach, San Antonio, TX 78218 with Military Honors at 10:30 am.

A reception will occur from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at Sunset Reception Hall, 1701 Austin Hwy, San Antonio, TX 78218.

Instead of flowers, contributions may be made in Charlie’s name to:

Gideons International & Samaritan’s Purse

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/article/gideons-miracle/

CommuniCare Health Centers

https://communicaresa.org/the-communicare-health-foundation

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

https://givenow.lls.org/give/394054/#!/donation/checkout