A man of faith and a member of the Knights of Columbus Catholic Fraternity, Dr. Ted Fortmann played a significant role in the foundation and the success of the Center of Family Love during his 85 years of life.

When Dr. Fortmann, his wife, Sally, and his two older children, Annisa and Scott, welcomed a third child, Julie, into their family, they were confronted with a challenge to serve a frequently neglected and underserved population of people: those who live with disabilities.

At 18 months of age, Julie was diagnosed with a severe form of epilepsy causing her to require specialized care, and it was her life that gave the Fortmanns the awareness and the opportunity to band together with a group of people to form a home for adults living with intellectual and physical disabilities.

In fact, it was Mrs. Fortmann who came up with the lasting name “Center of Family Love” to describe an organization that set out to become a home and a family for a population of people who often have neither.

“Without Julie, my parents would still have supported the center simply because it was the right thing to do,” said Dr. Fortmann’s oldest daughter, Annisa Mueggenborg.

“But I don’t know that they would’ve been involved at the level they were. It was because of Julie that my parents saw firsthand the lack of resources for adults with disabilities in the community at that time and they wanted her to have more than that.

“They wanted Julie and others like her to have a home where they would be filled with purpose and be accepted for who they were, which is why the ministry of the Center of Family Love was so important to their hearts, and it’s why they worked so hard with the other founders to make the dream a reality.”

After the hard work of the founders that began in the early 1970s, the Center of Family Love opened its doors in 1981 and Julie became one of the first 48 residents to live there.

 Dr. Fortmann’s dedication to the Center of Family Love did not end with the formation of the organization.

As a pharmacist turned medical doctor, Dr. Fortmann used his skills to serve actively as the center’s medical director for over 30 years alongside his wife, who served as his nurse. Throughout the course of his decades-long tenure as medical director, Dr. Fortmann cared for the medical needs of every resident living at the center on his afternoon off in addition to being on call 24/7.

“My dad was always on call for the Center of Family Love and the entire community and would leave at a moment’s notice to help someone without even thinking a thing about it,” said Mueggenborg. “He always put everyone else before himself and was always giving of himself to make others better. It’s just who he was.”

Center of Family Love CEO Debbie Espinosa said she feels the center has been beyond blessed to have received so many years of Dr. Fortmann’s unwavering devotion.

“Dr. Fortmann was a selfless man who continually gave to others without a second thought,” said Espinosa. “That selflessness is evidenced in the 30-plus years he served as medical director for the Center of Family Love, never charging a penny for any of his services.

“Dr. Fortmann gave of himself so others could enjoy a better life, especially our residents, and our residents do not take this kindness lightly, nor do they forget it. Residents who were living at the center during Dr. Fortmann’s service as medical director continue to love him dearly and remember him fondly.

“Even though Dr. Fortmann has passed on to his home in Heaven, he will forever live on in the hearts of everyone at the Center of Family Love. His legacy will never be forgotten and we will forever be grateful for everything he did to help create this ministry that has changed and will continue to change the lives of individuals living with disabilities for generations to come.”

In addition to years of service, the Fortmanns also contributed significant gifts to the Center of Family Love.

The family’s first gift was a homemade sign announcing the land as the future home of the Center of Family Love.

Appropriately, the Fortmanns went on to donate the digital sign that currently welcomes visitors. The family also donated the stained-glass windows placed in the Blessed Stanley Rother Chapel as well as the statue of Jesus and the little children that also resides in the chapel.

Mueggenborg hopes her dad knew how significant his life was to the Center of Family Love.

“At the end, my dad felt that his life had truly come full circle,” said Mueggenborg, “He knew he was leaving this earth with the Center of Family Love thriving and in good hands. Knowing that his life’s work and legacy would continue on meant the world to him.”