Being raised in a community where your history connects to every part of your present, it is difficult to find the courage to leave. It is similarly difficult to forge a path and stay. Questa del Rio News is committed to highlighting different members of our community, both those who have created their paths and planted their own roots in the community that raised them, and those who have pursued lives outside of the community—through our Representando series.
This series is dedicated to those who are Representando communities in northern Taos County, in various facets of life.
For our March issue, we interviewed Robert “Robbie” Ortega. Ortega is a Questa High School graduate of the class of 1989. Upon graduation, Ortega moved to Albuquerque, where he started college at the University of New Mexico.
Coming from the small tight-knit community of Questa, he realized he didn’t feel a strong connection to his learning experience in classes with 80-plus students, so he transferred to then TVI Community College—now known at Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) to pursue a degree in criminal justice and liberal arts.
During his studies, in 1993, Ortega married Susan (Cisneros) Ortega and welcomed their first son, Robert (Robbie) Ortega Jr., to their family in 1994. Their second son, Johnathan, was born several years later, in 2000.
During the years of growing his family, Ortega worked in various roles, including property management for the college, and worked his way up to becoming their chief procurement officer for several years through to his retirement in 2019.
“We handled the procurement for multi-million-dollar campus projects and initiatives,” Ortega says. “The school is a publicly funded school; therefore the budget would vary, and my job was to process the contracts for bid, and work to ensure projects met budget,” he continued.
Much of Ortega’s contributions during his career have been a major part of the modernization of the school over the past two decades. “CNM was always different for me. The learning experience was more interpersonal, and throughout my career. I knew the president, the directors, and the governing body. They took time to get to know their staff and work with them.”
In addition to his successful career, Ortega was able to finish his degree, obtaining tuition reimbursement through the remainder of school, a benefit also available to his sons Robbie Jr. and Johnathan. “My son Robbie Jr. is an aviation mechanic; his career has taken him to different airports across the country. He’s currently working at an airport in Dallas and is a first-time dad to a newborn baby girl,” Ortega says in excitement. His youngest son, Johnathan, is in the Navy and is stationed in San Diego.
Since Ortega’s retirement in 2019, he and his wife Susan knew they wanted to establish a home in Questa. “Initially, our goal was to establish a home so we had a place to stay when we’d visit home and rent it out as an AirBnB during the times we’re not there… but as time went on and I was spending more and more time in Questa, I realized I was growing fond of my time there,” Ortega says. That familiarity and comfort encouraged him to speak to his wife Susan about moving back home. “At one point, we didn’t think we would ever move back home… but then we found ourselves loving being home,” Ortega says.
The couple slowly made their moves to leave the big city permanently and return to their roots in Questa. “It’s been such a blessing being home. We get to see our parents every single day, and it makes us feel so much more connected to the community where we grew up.” Ortega says. “It’s like being on vacation every single day… if we want to take our off-road vehicle to the mountains one evening, we simply go. It’s not a big production,” his wife Susan says as she sat in on the interview.
Their new home sits on six acres of land and the couple says living in Questa is like a whole different experience than before. “Living in the city, you get used to the cars, the noise, the sirens, the neighbors… and now, we have so much peace and serenity. You start to appreciate the things you took for granted.” Ortega says he and his wife love hunting, camping, and fishing and most of all spending time with family.
While retired, Ortega says he and his wife Suan remain deeply connected and active in the community that raised them. He is part of the Questa Knights of Columbus, Friendship Circle, participates in community clean up days, and volunteers at the Questa Food Pantry. He also enjoys his hobby of processing wild game meat in the winter for family.
Robert and his wife Susan are excited to embark on their new journey, becoming first-time grandparents, and they plan to continue to enjoy the retired life in Questa with their two dogs.
