Obituary of Dr. Evelina M. Orteza

Dr. Evelina M. Orteza of Calgary, Alberta Canada, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, July 26, 2014. She is survived by her brother, Ephraim and his wife, Edna, of Morgantown, WV and another sister-in-law, Lavinia R. A. Orteza of Quezon City, Philippines, nephews, nieces, great-nephews and great-nieces. She was born in Butuan, Philippines, the daughter of the late Jose and Rosario Orteza. She was preceded in death by her sisters, Corazon and Josefina; brothers Cornelio, Leoncio, Benjamin, Jose Jr., Ruben, and Arsenio. Evelina was a professor emerita of Philosophy of Education, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She received a Bachelor of Science in Education with a major in English Literature and a minor in Sociology from the University of the Philippines, a M.A. in Education from Case Western Reserve, Cleveland, Ohio, and an Ed.D. in Philosophy of Education from the University of California Los Angeles. With this educational background, she became equipped to teach at various institutions starting as an instructor at UCLA, then as an assistant professor at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and finally moving to the University of Calgary where she was granted the associate and later full professor status. She served this institution for 26 years until her retirement. During some summer sessions, she had the opportunity to teach at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, University of Regina, in Saskatchewan, and West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV. Apart from this wide teaching experience, she was also a visiting professor at the University of the Philippines, a visiting colleague at the University of Hawaii, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham in England. Because of her honest desire in improving the teaching of Philosophy of Education and the development of a better understanding of what the Department of Foundations of Education under the Faculty of Education is through her dedicated teaching and extensive writing, she received various kinds of honours, certificates of recognition, and awards. She was not only an author and co-author of books, but also a contributor to a number of books. Her involvement in both national and international journals on philosophy of education, values, and religion ranged from being editor, co-editor, book review editor, advisor, and contributor resulted in her being known and admired by local, national and international colleagues. Her other areas of interest in addition to philosophy of education in general were analytic philosophy of education, in particular, philosophical basis of moral education, existential philosophy, Pragmatism, Ethics, and later on she included the areas of religion, Christian mind, religious pluralism, interreligious dialogue, morality and values. Her main concern in teaching was to teach her students to think clearly and understand what university education is about. In addition to her distinguished academic career, Evelina was devoted to her family and friends, known for her generosity and love of art, the performing arts, classical music and collections of old books. Her clear thinking also applied rigorously to her Christian beliefs as shown in leading Bible Studies both in a number of churches she attended and in individual homes where sharing or caring groups met weekly. The members of every group showed their appreciation and thanks for the marvelous lessons learned from her, in terms of a verse by verse study and clarification, in each book being studied, and an increasing love for reading the Word of God. And because she believed in God distributing gifts to His people, we can say that she used her gifts from God to the fullest extent that she could. The family will receive friends at the Reformation Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 450 Arch Street, Morgantown, WV on Saturday, August 16th from 9:30 AM until the time of the funeral service at 11 AM with Rev. Luis Orteza and Rev. Jonathan Hutchison officiating. Evelina will be laid to rest at Beverly Hills Memorial Gardens, Westover, WV. In lieu of flowers, a donation in her memory may be made to the Langham Partnership / John Stott Ministries, Sobrato Center for Nonprofits, 580A Valley Way Milpitas, CA 95035; website: http://us.langham.org/ or to a charity of your choice. Hastings Funeral Home of Morgantown is in charge of the arrangements.