Mother and Son

Max's greatest gift to us was his devotion. He always stuck by his family. He was supportive, and lived for other people. He was unselfishly loyal to his family. His love for them was unwavering and unconditional. We'll miss him.

Max is survived by his three children, Lynne Welke, Tom Ortner, and Jim Ortner; four grandchildren, Anya Shortridge, Krista Cartwright, Josh Cartwright, and Reina Ortner; and five great-grandchildren, Crystal, Joseph, Melissa, Benjamin,  Londynn, and Mikaela (whom he never met).

With his daughter, Lynne, in a 1944 Chicago winter

Walk On

In loving memory of my grandfather, Max Ortner, who passed away this year, May, 1998. He loved walking everyday in La Jolla. He moved there from Chicago, thus this poem.

I took a walk
A long walk
From the cold white snow of the city
Where memories were born
Along my heart's unbeaten path

My footsteps led me
To the warm blue sea
Where my feet sunk deep into the sand
And where sun-filled memories grew
Into the tide pools of my life

by his loving Granddaughter, Anya
May 1988