Christine Ingersoll Ortiz

February 27, 1928 - April 3, 2022

Christine Ingersoll Ortiz, 94, passed away peacefully at home on April 3rd, 2022. Born in Whittier, CA to Marion and Richard Ingersoll, she graduated from Pomona College in 1947. Chris boldly moved to New York to complete a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education at Teachers College - Columbia University in 1949. After teaching school in New Jersey, she relocated to San Francisco in the early 1950s and taught kindergarten in Pacifica until 1957.

The Sierra Club played a major role in her life, where she met her future husband, Oscar, on a Club car-camping trip. Chris shared her love of hiking in Yosemite and on Mt. Tamalpais with her family. Closer to home Chris enjoyed swimming at Oyster Point and daily walks in McLaren Park with Oscar and their dogs. Her 56-year marriage to Oscar was the cornerstone of her life. Chris wanted to make her neighborhood and city a better place for everyone. She promoted alternative education in the 1970s, volunteering at Corbett Community School. Engaged with both the San Francisco Organizing Project for community activism and San Francisco Community Boards for dispute resolution, she participated in a wide range of projects from the 1980s on. She was most proud of the work that brought forth the new Portola District Public Library. Supporting others through challenging times was another mission as Chris and Oscar opened their home to young people and family.

Chris was a long-time member of the St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church community in San Francisco. She believed in the power of love and left us this message for all of her friends:

“Hello my friends, on this beautiful planet. Each and every one of you is a piece of the loving space which I inhabit. Each of you has given me your love, true caritas. I love you all, God is love and you are God’s love given to me freely and abundantly. I have felt this overwhelming love from all of you, you are the loves of my life.”

Chris is survived by daughters Nancy Ortiz, Suzy Ortiz, Elise Ortiz Wylan (Joel) and son Donald Ortiz (Michelle), as well as grandchildren Jessica and Emily Phillips, Francesca Ortiz, Paris and Lauren Ortiz and great-granddaughter Tallulah Bilaniv.