Dianna Mae Ortiz was born in Colorado Springs, Colo., on September 2, 1958. Her parents were Pilar Ortiz and Ambrosita (Amby) Esquibel Ortiz. Her siblings were Ronald, Brian, Barbara, Pilar Jr., Jonathan, Michelle, and Joshua.
She was baptized on December 07, 1958, at St. Joseph Church, in Fountain, Colo. She was confirmed on June 28, 1959, at St. Joseph Church in San Jose, N.M. During her early years she attended San Jose Elementary School. She also attended Sierra Vista Elementary School in Grants, N.M. The first three years of high school were at Grants High School. In August of 1976 she came to Mount Saint Joseph Academy to complete her senior year. She said that as early as sixth grade she wanted to be a sister. She talked to Sister Elizabeth Ann Ray, who was a teacher at St. Teresa’s School in Grants. Sister suggested that she come to Mount Saint Joseph Academy for her senior year. She would then have information to make her decision. She along with four other young women entered their postulant year on August 28, 1977. The first year of postulancy proved to be difficult for her because she was so far from home.
During the next years while learning about religious life, she was also attending Brescia College. She made her temporary profession on August 26, 1981. Later, on May 07, 1983, she graduated from Brescia with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She began her teaching career at Immaculate Conception School in Hawesville, Ky., in 1983. In 1985 she moved to Blessed Mother School in Owensboro where she taught kindergarten.
After two years at Blessed Mother School, Sister Dianna asked to go to Chillan, Chile, to discern whether she would be able to work as a missionary. She decided that she needed to know more about the Spanish language, so she attended language school at Centro Linguistico Maya in Antigua, Guatemala, in 1987.
After completing language school, she went to San Miquel Acatan in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, to teach indigenous children and help in the parish. She was working with people who had been victimized by one of the most oppressive regimes of Latin America. She received warnings to stop her work and leave the country. On November 02, 1989, she was abducted and forced to endure unspeakable torture. Afterward, Sister Dianna lost memory of her life before abduction, and since that time, she battled both real and remembered demons in her struggle to heal.
Her courage and determination to honor her fellow victims resulted in the publication of her memoir, The Blindfold’s Eyes: My Journey from Torture to Truth, published in 2002.
Throughout the years, while living in the Assisi Community in Washington, D.C., she worked tirelessly for justice in countless ways: working through the court systems in Guatemala to reveal the identities of those responsible for torture there, and working with the justice system in the United States to reveal ways in which our country was involved in supporting torture in other countries. She received national recognition for a lengthy sit-in and fast in the park across from the White House, to highlight her demand that secret documents related to U.S. involvement in Guatemala and other countries be made public. She worked with another survivor to found TASSC (Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition) based in Washington, D.C.
After she had worked for TASSC for 10 years, she decided to move to other areas of social justice work. She was Deputy Director of Pax Christi USA in Washington, D.C., and worked for the Center for Concern as the Editor for the Education for Justice project. After working there for several years, she moved back to Pax Christi USA where she was working until she died.
On Saturday, February 16, 2021, three days before she died, Sister Dianna said in a phone conversation, “Tell the Sisters that I am sorry if I have hurt anyone. Tell them I love them. Thank you for all you have done to support me over my years in community. I am going home.”
Sister Dianna Ortiz, 62, died after a brave battle with cancer on Friday, February 19, 2021, in Washington, D.C., during her 43rd year of religious life.
Due to health and safety concerns, the wake service and the funeral service at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 22, were private. Burial was in the convent cemetery.