German Cortez

Paige McIntyre I worked with German in Beaumont. We decided one day to all exchange glasses to see what we looked like. This was the outcome.

JuanJo RC Además de una persona jovial, alegre. German era un hombre trabajador. - En esa foto hay otros colegas de periodismo. Recuerdo que viajamos a Austin a la cobertura de las elecciones de medio término en 2018. Nos tocó cubrir la re-elección del gobernador del estado Greg Abbott. La jornada fue larga y aún así al final del día de trabajo él estaba siempre con esa sonrisa que lo caracterizó siempre. Te vamos a extrañar Germán, descansa en Paz my friend.

Kara Dixon I worked with German at KFDM and remained friends with him after we both left. He was a great coworker and an even better friend. He was also caring, funny, and reliable. I’m lucky that I was able to go on many road trips with German to the NPPA conference in Oklahoma, New Orleans, and to Tanya’s wedding in San Antonio. The trip to San Antonio was my favorite because German was so excited to see The Alamo and talked about it the whole time we were there. God bless German for putting up with me and Candy Rodriguez. The three of us were in a group chat and would FaceTime all of the time. They would also purposely send each other memes in Spanish knowing I didn’t understand. Jajaja. German thought it was hilarious. I’ll definitely miss his laugh the most.

Tanya Avila Today is Monday, July 13th. 3 days ago, German left this world. It still doesn't seem real. This past weekend was one of the hardest weekends I've had in a long time. I worked with German at KFDM in Beaumont. There was something about him that made me connect with him instantly. I remember our first conversation. He was freelancing for our Friday night high school football show, The Tailgate Show. He walked over to the assignment desk and said, "Ma'am, can I borrow your pen?". And I said in a serious tone, "Ma'am is my mother, you can call me Tanya." We both busted out laughing because I was so serious about it, but was joking at the same time. After that, he was hired by our station. He quickly became my go to guy. He was friendly, professional and had a work ethic like no other. I saw him like my little brother. That's what hurts the most because he's not here and I will never be able to text him again or have our lunch date that we were planning before this pandemic. All we have are memories - happy memories. I've heard through the grapevine of some of the shenanigans that happened at my wedding and post reception. I'll say this much, I'm glad he had fun and I will always remember the Alamo.

Elena Arteaga German and I were the best of friends. We met in Austin while working at KEYE. He was quick-witted and was so hard working. He loved what he did, and he was great at it. It wasn’t long before he became my favorite photog. That friendship blossomed and soon we were inseparable. It was because of him that I made the jump to Houston. He believed more in me and my talents in news than I ever did, and he was the first one to call or text after my interviews with with KHOU. He was the one who calmed me down when I hyperventilated while packing to move to Houston, who reassured me that I was a badass and could more than do this new job. He was there for me when I was trying to find a place in Houston, and when I had to move in he was the one who drove that UHaul for me. We became roommates after moving to the Houston area around the same time for our respective TV jobs in news. German and I went on so many adventures. Beach trips to Galveston, hiking trips to Garner, Colorado Bend, the green belt or Bull Creek in Austin. The trip to the Houston Zoo, the Houston Museum of Natural Science (where I broke the geode and he couldn’t stop laughing at my expression). He taught me how to use my new Canon DSLR, and later how to edit/shoot stories for my station. He was so patient and kind, and only complained when I was stubborn about a certain shot. He went with me on nearly all of my shoots to guide me and help calm down my anxiety and nerves. We’d text/call nonstop throughout the day, but also tag each other nonstop on social media (sometimes while in the same room). I’ll now miss seeing him bombard my IG messages with memes, videos, photos, and comments. I’ll miss hearing him laugh in the living room while he watched The Office or laugh at some meme/video. I’ll miss hiding in places around the house and jumping out just to scare the heck out of him (because it worked every time), and then running away before he could pinch me for it. I’ll miss knocking on the door to his room to ask if he wants Whataburger at 2AM, or him knocking on my door at 10AM to say, “quieres un cafecito con leche?” Or, “tengo hambre, que se te antoja almorzar?” Or, “I want pancakes, come on.” I’ll miss seeing him play with and love my dogs as if they were his. I’ll miss him sending me snapchats of my dogs while I was at work and he was home. I’ll miss seeing him sit outside like a grandpa with a mug of coffee. But most of all, I’m missing him. His kindness, his smile, the way he’d tease me mercilessly or tell me “Ya güey!” when I was being annoying. I’ll miss being annoyed at finding cabinet doors and drawers open in the kitchen because he forgot to close them. I’ll miss him making fun of all my weird quirks. I’ll miss him trying out new food dishes I’d make and getting his approval (or disapproval sometimes). I’ll miss hearing about his goals and dreams, hearing him talk about Mizzael and Candy, or his love for the city of Austin, where he hoped to move back to one day. Everything was an adventure, even going to In-N-Out and waiting an hour for burgers. I’ll miss blasting CCR, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, The Beatles, Queen, Simon and Garfunkel, Billy Joel, Elton John, and so many others around the house and in the car. I’ll miss teasing you about how young you were, about having a baby face when you’d shave, and how you’d say “sang-wich” and “picza.” I’ll miss going on random photo shoots at night just to keep practicing with the Canon. I’ll miss ranting to you about everything and anything. But I’ll just mostly miss everything about you. We’ll always have Cozumel. 🤍

Adela Uchida German was one of my favorites to team up with at work because he was focused and passionate about his work, and still lots of fun to be around. Sometimes he would get frustrated with something, and I would tell him that it was all going to be ok, because he had a fast ticket to better and brighter things. I am shocked that he is gone. He was a gentle, intelligent soul and I will miss him.

Ana María Lamas One of my favorite memories with German started with a book. Once I gave him the newest edition of a book he and I loved: Aim for the Heart. He was so giddy when he held it, I had to document the moment. He told me it was one of the books that inspired him to become a better journalist, a better photographer and he couldn’t wait to read the updated version. It's one of my favorite memories because it shows how humble he was about knowing he needed to work on his craft as a photojournalist and how excited he was to work in this field. German was so happy he even asked me to sign the book for him. I have nothing but positive memories about German at work. He was excited to tackle challenging assignments and he was the consummate team-player to his reporters. In my experience, it’s unusual to find someone with German’s charm, lightheartedness, and humility in life and in a newsroom. One could tell he came from a very special family. I’m grateful to have met him, to have worked with him, and to have been inspired by his thirst to become better. --- Uno de mis recuerdos favoritos con German comenzó con un libro. Una vez le di la más reciente edición de un libro que a él y mí nos gustaba: Aim for the Heart. Él estaba tan contento con el libro entre manos que tuve que tomarle una foto. Me dijo que era uno de los libros que lo inspiraron a ser un mejor periodista, un mejor fotógrafo y que estaba muy emocionado de leer la edición actualizada. Es uno de mis momentos favoritos con German porque demuestra cómo abordaba con humildad la tarea de mejorar en su capacidad de fotoperiodista. Estaba tan feliz con el libro que hasta me pidió que lo firmara. No tengo más que memorias positivas de German en el trabajo. Él estaba contento de recibir asignaciones que le supondrían retos nuevos y era el compañero ideal para sus reporteros. En mi experiencia personal, es inusual encontrarse con alguien con el encanto, jovialidad y humildad de German dentro y fuera de un departamento de noticias. De lejos se sabía que venía de una familia muy especial. Me siento agradecida de haberlo conocido, de haber trabajado con él y de que me haya inspirado su sed de ser mejor.

Karla Quijano I remember when I first met German. He was my brothers best friend at the time and soon, he would also become an important part of my life. He also became like my brother. Though I hadn’t spoken to him in a long time, I always cherished the memories we had made and thought about him often. A part of me missed the random fishing trips, the times we’d go out to eat like at 3am, our big bend road trip, our Colorado road trip, and all the other small family events he was a part of. Always so adventurous and eager to visit new places, but also always so stubborn. He really was the person that believed in you more than you believed in yourself, even when he was making fun of you. I will always be thankful for the impact he had on my life and for all the good memories we made.

Jordan Bontke It was a privilege to work along side German for what would be one of the biggest stories to hit Texas in decades. He and I here paired together for Hurricane Harvey. He worked tirelessly providing stories and live shots around the state. Our news director still talks about one live shot where he sat in the back seat with the camera while the producer drove around showing damage. One consultant told me our crew "planted a flag on the moon" with that live shot. When we returned to Austin, we felt like rock stars for what he was able to pull off. The next week, I couldn't keep going but he did. After the Astros won the World Series in '17, he was the first person to give me a bear hug. I'll never forget that. During the Austin bombings, he and I listened to police scanners until we found out where officers were taking down the suspect. I'm not kidding when I say we were the first ones there. We beat the network guys. His persistence and quick thinking behind wheel and camera led to great moments he captured, many of which ended up in Emmy award winning coverage. Now, during all of these stories he lost his keys a few times but he always found them and it never effected our work. When he left KEYE, dozens of people from around the market crowded in a tiny bar to hug and kiss him goodbye. I'm so thankful I got to be his partner for such big stories. The world needs more people like German Cortez. He left us too soon. Say hi to my old man and grandma up there. 'Stors start their season on Friday. Love you, man.

Karla Quijano In 2013, German asked me to proofread this class essay for him, which describes his humble beginnings and how his love for the camera began.

Courtney Vosburgh I worked with German at CBS Austin. German was everyone's favorite photographer. The reporters would fight for the chance to get to work with German because you always knew if you were lucky enough to be paried with him, you were guaranteed to turn a great story. I always hated having to get "man on the street" interviews, but when I was working with German he would help me ask folks on the street for interviews and no one ever turned him down! People loved him. He had such a positive attitude and it put me in a better mood when we worked together. We actually spent two weeks together in Beaumont covering Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and German was one of the most talented and dedicated journalists I've ever had the chance to work with. He really cared about the people behind the story. I included a photo here that I snapped of him talking to man who was pretty emotional after losing everything in the storm. German was fearless too. We probably drove through some high water we shouldn't have, but we always made it out okay. I remember one night we couldn't get back to our hotel because the I-10 feeder was flooded out, so he parked the news car on the shoulder of the main lanes of I-10 and him and I ran down the grass hill to the hotel to grab clothes so we could spend the night at KFDM. When we ran back through the water to get to the car we ran through floating ant beds and got bit quite a few times. A story that we worked on during Harvey called "Neighbors helping neighbors" was recognized and won an Associated Press award. To this day it is still one of the stories I'm most proud of and that wouldn't have been possible without German. I was so sad when he left Austin, but also knew I'd come back home to Houston one day and that we would stay close. I was so honored that he and Elena attended my wedding on May 11, 2019. I love that picture of him because he's smiling so big. We had a great time and danced the night away. I'm so sad that we lost such an incredible person far too soon. Rest in Peace German. Love ya! - Courtney