My Friend Charlie Ortega

                                              Charlie and I

By kiki

I have made some friends on Facebook. Friends like Randy De La O, Ruben Lucero, Rene Ramirez, Bob Smith, Phil Rice, Jeff Bumpus, Jerry Cantu, Frank Aragon, Hernan de la Torre, book author Gene Aguilera, Filmmakers Steve Debro and Robert Benavides, the Ortega brother's, Charlie and Big Ron, and the list goes on. But unfortunately, in 2017, I lost one of the friends mentioned above, Charlie Ortega.

Charlie, who was short in stature, but had the heart of a lion, was in his own way a very unique kinda guy; he was the kind of guy that when he walked into a room, everybody took notice because he owned the room. He was animated and loud, but not in an annoying way. - Charlie and I had become good, if not close, friends in the six years we knew each other. We would every so often get together for Menudo at La Indiana Restaurant in La Puente, Ca. Sometimes we would meet with some of the fellas I mentioned above, but most of the time, it would be just us. 

Charlie became a favorite and legend with La Indiana's staff and patrons. The waitresses loved him and always asked me, "Is your friend Charlie coming?" - I remember telling him once that he and I were meeting for Menudo and that the restaurant didn't open till 9:00am. Well, around 8:30am, I got a phone call from him: "Frank, I am here" I asked him what he was doing there so early, and I also asked him if he was going to wait until they opened. "Wait outside? Hell no; I'm inside drinking a beer" I then asked him how did he get inside if the place didn't open till 9:00, and he said, "I knocked on the door, and the cook let me, and he served me two Coors," And that became Charlie's routine whenever he visited La Indiana. Did I say he was unique?!

Charlie would order a bowl of Menudo con pata, three or four soft tacos, and two Coors; he ordered his beer by two's. Once his Menudo was served, he would put the tortillas chips in the Menudo and insist that I eat the pata that he had ordered; I would decline; since I, too, had ordered Menudo con pata. He would never eat the tacos; he would try to get me or his brother Ron to eat them or take them home. The Coors? Did I say he drank two at a time?. Didn't I say that he was a unique dude?

                             Charlie, Big Ron, and I at La Indiana


La Indiana staff loved Charlie as he always had them in stitches with his unique funny way. He would, in his broken pocho Spanish, ask one of the waitresses for a date; she would tell him that she was married; he would then say to her, "Okay, so just give me your phone number; I promise not to call when your husband is home" of course it was all banter on his part. Charlie, too, had a way with the patrons. He would talk to them as if they were longtime friends. After eating, he and I started talking about boxing; he loved boxing. Charlie brought up former world lightweight champion Mando Ramos. He got so animated in describing Mando's fighting style that he got up and started shadowboxing on the restaurant aisle. While throwing left jabs, he asked an old man sitting in the booth next to us if he knew Mando Ramos. The old man answered him, "Yes, I know Ramos, but he couldn't have beaten my man" At that, Charlie turned to me and said, "he knows boxing" He then asked the old man who his man was, the old man replied, "the Golden Boy, Art Aragon, do you know Aragon?" Charlie replied to the old fella that he knew of Aragon but never saw him fight. "Aragon was before my time, but Aragon was my dad's favorite fighter," I think that Mando Ramos was Charlie's favorite fighter.

At the California Boxing Hall of Fame: Frank Baltazar, Ruben "The Maravilla Kid" Navarro, Charlie Ortega, Frankie Baltazar Jr., Big Ron Ortega, Dwain Brown, and in front, Randy De La O

I invited Charlie and Ron to sit at my table at the California Boxing Hall of Fame a few times. The first time I asked them, Charlie said, "I'll go, but I have to sit with you" I told him that, of course, he was sitting at my table, "I know, but I wanna sit next to you" He did. Charlie was on cloud nine as he met the famous fighters that attended the CBHOF luncheon. 

I miss my friend and his animated persona. He was a truly unique man!