A fundraiser was established in memory of Ruth Cortes, a Touro University Graduate (GoFundMe Photo)SANTA ANA, CA — Funeral services are planned for this weekend for a U.S. Navy lieutenant from Anaheim, who authorities say was killed by her ex-boyfriend in Moreno Valley in a murder-suicide. Ruth Cortes, 40, was fatally shot in the driveway of her aunt’s house on Oct. 30 by 36-year-old Santa Monica attorney Aravon McCalla, who then turned the gun on himself, Riverside County sheriff’s deputies reported.Cortes’ sister Judith Spirtos wants all to focus not on how she died, but rather, how she lived.
“I will teach you how to be a better person because that’s what she did,” Spirtos told local media outlets. In that spirit, a GoFundMe donation was established in her name for Touro University, where she earned her Physician’s Assistant Certification. A physician’s assistant in the Navy, with a master’s degree in health, Cortes served tours in Afghanistan and Guam.She was born on Oct. 19, 1979, in Hawaiian Gardens, California, the middle child out of five of Jose and Laura Cortes. Ruth graduated from Magnolia High School in Anaheim in 1997, received her Bachelor of Science in 2002 from San Diego State University, and graduated from Touro University, Vallejo, CA, as a certified Physician’s Assistant in 2012. She served in the United States Airforce Reserves for six years and was actively serving as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy. “Ruth accomplished a great many things for which she viewed as a blessing and faced adversity through it all, but her Christian faith never wavered,” her obituary reads. “She had a passion for helping others, especially using her skills in medicine.”Ruth was a skilled artist and used her drawings to bring joy to others and to educate patients.
She enjoyed traveling with friends, which was evident by her ever-growing list of places she had visited and placed she longed to see. She ran for fitness and as a way to de-stress and accumulated trophies and medals for 5ks, 10ks, and marathons she completed. “She was known for her quick wit, infectious smile and laugh, her kind, compassionate, selfless spirit and her love of life,” they wrote. She is preceded in death by her father, Jose, and mother, Laura. She is survived by her sisters Judith, Ana, Vanessa, brother Jose and several cousins, nieces, and nephews. Flowers are welcomed as well as donations in her honor through gofundme for Touro University, where she attended PA school. The fundraiser goes to the Lt. Ruth Cortes running space at the new gymnasium, along with a plaque and treadmill. Ruth will be honored with a memorial brick for the PA Veterans Memorial garden in Durham, NC, and an annual scholarship through the American Academy of PAs Veterans Caucus for female Veterans attending PA school. Spirtos said she chooses to focus on her sister’s legacy instead of her last moments. “When you start thinking about those things, then you get stuck on the wheel of, ‘What could I have done?’ And it just becomes a wheel of, ‘What did I miss? How did I let her down?’ It doesn’t give me her back.” Friend Joy Dugan, who established the fundraiser for Cortes, says that her friends and family wanted to honor her in as many meaningful ways as possible. “A new gym is being created at Touro University, where she attended PA school. The funds will be used to create the Lt. Ruth Cortes running space on campus,” Dugan explained. “A plaque will be created in her honor alongside the purchase of a treadmill. Also, a brick will be purchased with Lt. Cortes’ name for the PA Veterans Memorial garden in Durham, North Carolina, and an annual scholarship through the American Academy of PAs Veterans Caucus for female Veterans attending PA school. We hope to keep this scholarship alive to remember her always.” A funeral will be held for Cortes Saturday at St. Justin’s Church in Anaheim. She will be laid to rest in Orange with full military honors. City News Service contributed to this report. GoFundMe is a Patch promotional sponsor.
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