Editor’s note: A paragraph detailing failed attempts to reach sources was removed on Nov. 3 at 12:36 p.m.
The legacy left by Edward Ortell will not only be remembered by those who knew him, but will be embedded in Citrus’ past, present and future.
“I always saw him as an advocate for students,” Director of Human Resources Robert Sammis said. “He was a very fierce advocate for local control.”
Ortell advocated for community colleges by lobbying Sacramento and Washington, D.C. legislators. He also testified before the California State Legislature and crafted legislation with lawmakers.
“For more than 50 years, I have had the privilege of working side by side with dedicated professionals devoted to fostering academic excellence and career success,” Ortell said in a personal essay posted by Citrus College.
This spring he was acknowledged as the longest-serving community college trustee by the Community College League of California. Ortell was first elected to be on the board of trustees in 1969.
“I think he was a distinguished member of the board,” Board of Trustees President Patricia Rasmussen said. “He had a lot of history as a board member, so very often the board would ask him, how it was done in the past and the history behind things, and he would know.”
He was awarded several honors such as the Community College League of California Longevity service award, the We Honor Ours award, the City of Duarte Outstanding Civic Service Award, and a CBS anchor Ralph Story Community service award.
“Reflecting on my five decades of service on the Citrus College governing board, I am grateful for the support that the citizens of the Duarte area have continued to show me,” Ortell said in his essay.
Ortell was born on March 4, 1939, and died on Oct. 16. His funeral will be at noon on Nov. 12 at Forest Lawn in Covina Hills. Ortell’s cause of death is still unlisted.
Ortell held a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dubuque in Iowa, a master’s degree from the State University of New York, a master’s degree from California State University, Los Angeles, and a doctorate from U.S. International University in San Diego.
Ortell was elected board president in 1971 because the previous board president, Howard D. Tipton, resigned after being selected to be on a federal commission by President Richard Nixon. Ortell had previously been the vice president of the Board of Trustees.
He was elected as board president again in 1975. In addition to this, Ortell was the vice president of the Citrus Foundation after the resignation of Darrell Holman in 1974. He previously served as the Citrus Foundation president from 1972 to 1973.
Ortell was selected to serve a one-year term as board of trustees president again in 1980. He was also a professor emeritus at Pasadena City College and the author of two college mathematics textbooks. He was re-elected in 1993 as the Board of Trustees president.
In addition to serving on the Board of Trustees, Ortell served on the Community College League of California Advisory Committee on Legislation, California Community College Trustees State Board of Directors, the Community College Association Board of Directors, the Los Angeles County School Trustees Association and the SB 6 Master Plan for Education Task Force.
To our readers who have commented, and others who feel similarly:
Myself and Lucy would like to extend our sincerest apologies for the hurt we have caused with this story. We both failed to sense the impact of our words on the grieving family members and Citrus College employees mentioned. This story has reminded us that we need to write, edit and, most importantly, read our stories thoroughly and empathetically before publication. We did not do Edward Ortell, his family, or the Citrus community justice, and we know now that we must do better to be trusted with such important stories.
We are thankful for your feedback, and have modified the story appropriately. Hopefully, this incident will pave a brighter path for our current and future staff, editors and readers.
Sincerely,
Justin George, on behalf of the Clarion Editorial Board and Staff
I was also appalled at the complete lack of insensitivity the writer of the article on the passing of Dr. Ortell showed to members of his family. The last paragraph of the article is completely irrelevant- you might want to have considered that the family members are grieving and responding to your questions was the last thing on their minds. I hope the writer will take this as a teachable moment and also reach out to the two mentioned family members and apologize!
To Lucy and the Clarion supervisor,
Your article about Dr. Ortell was nice. He deserved a front page article and to be acknowledged for his lifelong dedication and service to Citrus College. However, once I got to the end and read the final paragraph, I was very displeased. “Cliff Wurst, Ortell’s son-in-law, declined to be interviewed. His daughter, Brenda Fink, was sent two emails, called five times and left one message at the human relations department between Oct. 18 to Oct. 29 and did not respond.”
This is a paragraph I would expect to see at the conclusion of an investigation. Something I would expect to see if one of the names mentioned was the subject involved in a controversial issue. While some of us know these names and who they are, you failed to mention that either of these individuals are longtime employees of Citrus College. And most importantly you failed to mention that these are heartbroken family members, who were too busy caring for their family, and taking care of arrangements to be interviewed by strangers. They are still grieving this major loss and I feel the way this last part is worded was insensitive and unnecessary. I think something acknowledging that the College would keep the entire Ortell family, including Cliff and Brenda in our thoughts would’ve have been much more appropriate. I am not trying to put down our students hard work in producing the newspaper or make anyone feel bad, but rather offering a suggestion for a future similar article.
I am absolutely appalled at the lack of insensitivity in the last paragraph of this article calling out Dr. Ortell’s family for not commenting while they are GRIEVING! Extremely disrespectful!
Have some class! Talk about insensitive! Look at your ridiculous bullying comment! Go get some common sense! I’d slap you silly if I could.