Jasper Cortinez

On the morning of September 24, 2015, Jasper Cortinez passed away peacefully of natural causes. Jasper was a resident of Allison Care Center in Lakewood, CO at the time of his passing; he was 97 years old.


Born Porfirio Cortinas in the town of Sugar City in Crowley County, Colorado, Jasper was a middle child of a family of 10 children born to Jesús (Jess) Cortinez and Julia Dominguez Cortinez who immigrated to Colorado from Northern Mexico around 1910.


He was predeceased by his wife, Mary Porfiria Martinez Cortinez, whom he married on July 4, 1953 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver.


In October 1935, at the age of 17, Jasper enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CC Camp). For 11 months he worked at the Mesa Verde camp. In his mid 20s, Jasper served for almost 4 years in the Pacific as a Surgical Technician during WWII after enlisting in the U.S. Army in March of 1941. He was one of only 800,000 American World War II veterans remaining out of 16 million who served.



Jasper worked as a Nursing Assistant at Fort Lyon VA Hospital for many years until his retirement in January 1974. In the early years of retirement he enjoyed vegetable gardening and raising fruit trees as well as transcribing lyrics to songs he remembered from "the old days." He was an active member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Las Animas, Colorado from the 1950s until 2009.


He was a self-taught musician and sang and played piano. He also played guitar, violin, and mandolin for many years in Arkansas Valley Mariachi groups. He also offered musical entertainment to residents of Bent County Memorial Nursing Home.


While in Las Animas, Jasper served as an officer of the local chapter of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees.


A devout Roman Catholic, he attended daily Mass at Christ the King Chapel at The Gardens of St. Elizabeth where he lived from June 2010 until early 2013 when he moved to Allison Care Center.


Jasper was the great-grandson of Miguel Cortinas, an early east-Texan who fought for Texas independence in the 1830s.


His wife of 56 years, 5 brothers and 4 sisters, all predeceased him. Jasper is survived by 1 daughter: Francesca Cortinas of Arvada CO; 1 son and son-in-law: Gerard Cortinez and David Chase from New York City; 2 grandchildren: Krystal (Tad) Tweeddale of Tooele UT, and Gray Scott of Arvada CO; 4 great-grandchilden: Grace, Kayla, London, and Connor Tweeddale of Tooele UT; as well as numerous nephews and nieces in Colorado, California, Nebraska, Texas, and Arizona.


Friends and family are invited to attend memorial services on Wednesday, September 30, at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, 3868 W Ohio Ave, in Denver. The rosary will be said at 12 Noon, followed by the funeral Mass to be celebrated at 12:30pm. Committal of ashes will be at a later date in Fort Logan National Cemetery.

The family wishes to thank the kind staff of Optum Palliative and Hospice Care, of Allison Care Center, and of Newcomer Funeral Homes.

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