Jose Antonio Ojeda

Jose Antonio Ojeda was born on August 27th, 1949 in Havana Cuba to Rene and Bertila Ojeda. He grew up in a small town outside of Havana called Santa Maria Del Rosario alongside his older brother Rene. The two brothers shared a rich childhood playing baseball, hunting, fishing, and exploring the countryside. However, during this time, the political climate on the island was rapidly changing in the midst of the Cuban Revolution. As Fidel Castro and his oppressive communist regime took control, the Ojeda Family was forced to make some very hard decisions. With the assistance of the Catholic Church in what was known as Operation Pedro Pan, Jose, aged 12, and Rene, aged 14, were separated from their parents and fled to the United States to live as political refugees. After arriving in the United States, Jose and Rene were sent to live in an all-boys catholic orphanage in Lincoln, NE until they could re-unite with their parents. After almost 5 years apart, Jose’s parents were finally able to escape the island and re-unite with them, who; by this time, had grown into young men. Shortly after their arrival, Jose reached the age of 17 just as the United States was deeply embedded in the Vietnam War. In 1968, Jose volunteered for the United States Marine Corps and served proudly for his new country during this time. After returning to civilian life, Jose sought to make a living for himself and help care for his parents. An extremely gifted athlete, he had the opportunity to play professional baseball. However, with a potential salary of only a couple hundred dollars a month, Jose moved on to greener pastures and looked for more lucrative ways to help support the family. Armed with only a high school diploma, some street smarts, and a drive to succeed, Jose found that he was a natural born salesperson. In the mid 1980s, Jose found himself driving all over the Midwest doing in-person sales. On one fateful day in 1983 while on business trip to Oklahoma, Jose’s life changed forever when he met the love of his life, Norma Greene - a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty. It was love at first sight and Jose decided that Oklahoma and with Norma is where he would stay and plant roots. They married in 1984 and shared four sons, Mark, Sonny, Alexi, and Danny. With a young family in tow, Jose decided that he would go into business for himself to become a better provider. After trying out a few different ventures, Jose started his own advertising agency known as Shared Broadcasting Inc. The agency contracted with local TV stations to sell commercial airtime to small businesses in the OKC metro. At this point – Jose had finally found his niche. Within a few years, Jose sought to repeat his success in other parts of the country. At its peak, Shared Broadcasting had over 25 offices in every major TV market in the U.S. and Jose now found himself flying all over the country on a weekly basis. After a few years of this lifestyle, Jose decided that he wanted to spend more time with family, so, he sold out and directed all his energy on that. After this, Jose spent most of his time coaching his son’s sports teams, hunting, fishing and spending time with family and friends. In the summers, the family would vacation in Michigan or on the beach in Destin, Florida. Jose and Norma were long time members of the Elks Lodge of Oklahoma City where they formed lifelong friendships with wonderful people. They enjoyed going out to dinner, playing cards, and dancing in their free time. Jose was also a big Yankees fan-never missing a game. In 1993, Jose and Norma set out to realize their lifelong dream and purchased a large acreage in Logan County, OK where they built a beautiful home. The property became known as the Seven O Ranch and was Jose’s passion. He molded the land into his masterpiece building ponds, marshes, an orchard, and planted over 1,000 trees. He farmed wheat and hay, raised chickens, turkeys, and operated a pheasant and quail hunting business. He bred and trained his own hunting dogs in which he took great pride. Jose was always so full of life and energy up until the very end and loved his family more than anything. He is the definition of an American success story- a true inspiration for all. Jose is preceded in death by his wife Norma (who died only 11 months prior), and his parents, Rene and Bertila Ojeda. He is survived by his brother Rene Ojeda and, sons; Sonny and wife Erin, Mark, Alexi and wife Kristina, Danny and wife Leah and; grandchildren Conner, Olivia, Wyatt, Costa, and Alma Josefina Ojeda. A celebration of life for Jose will be held Thursday, September 15, 2022 at 10:00 AM at Northwest Event Center, 6009 Northwest Expressway, Oklahoma City, OK 73132. If you wish to send flowers, please send to: Bill Merritt Funeral Service, 6201 Northwest 39th Expressway, Bethany, OK 73008.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.billmerrittfuneralservice.com for the Ojeda family.